


Darkest Before the Dawn

by Rainbow_squirrels_7



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, F/M, Gen, Grovyle's point of view, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 04:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 70,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7028104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbow_squirrels_7/pseuds/Rainbow_squirrels_7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You may know the story of Grovyle, the hero from the future in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, but what happened before the events of the game? How did he meet his human partner and Celebi? How did he develop his rivalry and hatred for the evil Dusknoir? And why did he take up this impossible resolve to bring back the sunrise?</p>
<p>All this and more shall be revealed, straight from the heart and mind of Grovyle himself.</p>
<p>Darkest Before the Dawn: a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fanfiction</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Darkest Before the Dawn

Prologue:

 

"These are dark times for a child to come into." a voice whispered through the silence.

            "You think I don't know that?" a second voice hissed. "It's getting more dangerous with every passing day. Pokémon are getting corrupted everywhere because of this cursed darkness. And- oh! Look! It's hatching!"

            The two Pokémon looked down at the Egg cradled in the mother Sceptile's arms. The father, another Sceptile watched it start to shake with an unreadable expression. His yellow eyes narrowed as thoughts ran through his head. _A newborn in this world. It'll never survive. Children are supposed to bring Hope and new life. Not here. Not in a world where the sun no longer rises._

            The Egg shook violently and a small crack appeared in the shell. Then another. And another. Small, hard pieces chipped off onto the cold cave ground. Finally, cracks looking like lightning spread over the shell, and it broke into pieces. In its place was a small, green creature.

            The green, lizard-like Pokémon opened its huge, yellow eyes. It had a red belly, and four limbs, along with a darker green tail that split in two and curled at the end. A little baby Treecko.

            The baby yawned widely and stared up at his mother and father. Tears of joy appeared in the mother's eyes as she looked at her son. The father tilted his head down, and a shadow covered his face.

            "Welcome to the world, little one." the mother whispered to her son. The little Treecko looked around at the bleak scene surrounding them with eyes wide open. The three Pokémon were huddled in the corner of a stone cave. The grey stone was part of an old castle where humans used to live. It was ruins now. The humans had left right after the darkness started; hoping to find some other place beyond where time still functioned. It had only been a few years since then.

            With the collapse of Temporal Tower, the world turned to chaos. The landscape was dull; grey and black. The Tower governed time itself, and when it fell, time fell with it. The wind never blew. Neither winter nor spring ever came. The sun never rose. It was a world of unrelenting darkness and suffering. Pokémon were scared, and they became corrupt with madness close to hysteria. They attacked whoever came close. Danger was around every corner, and one never knew if it came from an enemy, or someone who you used to call friend.

            "It's not much to look at, I know." the mother Sceptile said to her son, when he looked back up at her with new confusion in his eyes. "But we have Hope. There's always Hope, even if you can't see it yet."

            "Don't be putting lies into that child's head." the father spat. "All Hope was lost when the Tower crumbled."

            "And yet you still believe in our cause." the mother cast him a sideways glance.

            "It'll take a bloody miracle to succeed." a shadow reappeared in the father's eyes as he shook his head.

            The female Sceptile looked around the cave. Supplies were scattered around the slate floor. There were two tattered Explorer's Bags- from a time when Guilds were still around, of which the two Grass-Types carried. Some various Exploring items were strewn about; some blue glass Orbs, hurling items like Sticks and Iron Thorns, and a couple of lobbing rocks. There were also some old books. They contained knowledge like languages and scripts. But what were actually impressive were the maps. Many rolled-up maps littered the floor, with two spread out in the middle cave, their edges weighted down by stones. The first map showed the Pokémon World as it looked during that time. It was marked with dusty, black charcoal. The Pokémon had written various things on the map: dangerous places, places to find food. Water was scarce because of time-frozen streams. It has to be obtained from Water-Types or found in fruit.

            The other map was similar, but also different. It was drawn on wood-colored paper and had drawings of the same World. But this map was from another time. Before the darkness. The Sceptile had dug it out of an old Explorer's Guild's ruins.

            The two maps; one colored, the other grey, shared only two things. The World that was drawn, and five marks each.

            "We just have to find the Time Traveler." the mother sighed. "Then we can change history for the better."

            "A time-traveling Pokémon." the father growled. "I doubt it even exists anymore."

            The five marks on each map stood for Time Gears. The two Grass-Types had spent most of their lives finding their former locations in the dark world. After Temporal Tower's collapse, the Gears had no power. In the past, they were instruments that controlled time in a specific area. If they were taken, time would stop. The two Sceptile had a plan. They mapped the locations of where the Time Gears had been in the past before the darkness because they planned to go back and collect them. If the Time Gears were put in place in the Tower of the past, which would stop it from crumbling, and thus, the future of darkness would cease to exist. They only needed to find the Time Traveler.

            "Primal Dialga will get us before we get even close to finding it." the father continued with a scowl. The little baby Treecko had fallen asleep in his mother's arms.

            Dialga was a Pokémon that controlled time itself. With the fall of Temporal Tower, Dialga was slowly descending into corruption. The beast only sought self-preservation and it was blind to whoever tried to resist the dark world. Others before the Sceptile had fallen before the governor of time. Taken out by its henchmen. Burned at the stake. Primal Dialga didn't understand that these Pokémon were just trying to help. But none of them had ever been as close as the two Grass-Types were to succeeding.

            "I'm sure we're close." the mother said, smiling down at her baby. "The forest near the ruins is the last place we have left to search. I'm sure the Time-Traveler is here."

            "If it wasn't caught already." the father muttered.

            "Stop being so pessimistic." the mother chided. "We're doing this for a better future. For those who come after us."

            The mother gazed down at her baby Treecko again and stroked his smooth, green head. "If we can live a shining life, that will certainly carry on. That's why we have to change the past. It's not about us. It's about everyone else."

            The father said nothing in reply. He stalked towards the entrance of the cave to keep watch while his mate slept. The night went on and on.

 

***

 

            The father Sceptile shook his mate's shoulder. "We have to go."

            "Wh- what?" Mother rubbed her eyes. "What's going on?"

            "They've found us." Father said as his eyes narrowed.

            I looked around frightened, my yellow eyes wide. I'm a few months old. Maybe more. It's hard to tell with only nights. One thing I do know is that I'm Treecko. My Mother and Father are both Sceptile. They've told me that we live in dark times. I can really see why they're called that. The only color I've seen most of is green. That's just because of mine and my parent's being Grass Types. The rest is all black and grey. Mother says that she and Father are trying to change that, though.

            Mother and Father had been teaching me about their cause. What they've been trying to do to change the past so this dark world wouldn't happen. I like it, and I'm not going to forget it, for sure. I might be young, but Father says that Pokémon grow fast. I'm already level three! I will have to get stronger to be able to help my parents save the world.

Mother scooped me up into her arms. She had a brown bag slung over her shoulder, and my father had a matching one. Rolled-up maps were sticking out underneath the closing flaps.

"Where are we going?" I asked. "Who's found us?"

            Mother packed a few more things into her bag. "Dialga's henchmen." she huffed. "They're the bad guys that are trying to stop us from changing the past."

            "Why don't we go and fight 'em?" I said. "My Pound move is getting really strong!"

            "There're too many of them, little one." Mother said as she looked around the cave one more time. Father came back in and laid a claw on her shoulder. "Let's go." he said stiffly.

            Mother carried me as she followed Father west down the stone path. Father told me that Sceptile were exceptionally fast Pokémon. I couldn't wait to grow up to be like them!

            "Weh-heh-heh!" garbled laughter came from behind us. It sounded close.

            "Cut around the corner!" Father shouted back as he ran ahead of us. I watched him disappear around the side of grey stone.

            Mother followed him, but then almost ran into his back. Father had stopped running, and Mother noticed it early enough as to not run into him. Why'd he stop?

            "Wait," Father held up one claw.

            "Weh-heh-heh!" the demonic laughter sounded even closer behind us.

            Father took a step forward, and it seemed to trigger an explosion. Dark purple Pokémon, a color I'd never seen before, shot out from everywhere. They exploded out of the nearby trees, from the rocks before us, and the cliffs above us. I had never seen so many Pokémon. They came closer, their sharp claws bared out in front of them and they looked wicked sharp. I could see that they had sparkly rocks for eyes and a horrible fanged grin. They looked scary.

            The other dark purple Pokémon that had been chasing us came up from behind. Mother stepped closer to Father and they stood back-to-back, claw-in-claw.

            "We'll have to fight our way out." Father said gruffly, and Mother nodded. I was confused at this, but even more so at what Mother did next. She carried me out of the crook of her elbow and started putting me into Father's bag. I was small enough to fit, but it was still strange. Why couldn't I fight?

            "Stay in there." Mother told me. I'd never seen her look more serious. She was almost always smiling, despite the darkness of the world. Always a ray of Hope through the clouds.

            "But Mother-" I started, but it was no use. Mother closed the bag, and I was thrust into blackness. I felt that I was being moved towards the ground; Father had put the bag on the ground in between him and Mother. It was for protection.

            I suddenly heard the SHHIIIING of claws cutting the air. The battle had started. I felt the ground shake as Mother and Father turned to face their attackers. I heard the softer WHIEEK one of Father's moves coming into contact. Leaf Blade. That was the coolest move ever! I had seen Father practice attacking a few times, but I just had to see it in action.

            I lifted the flap covering the bag and looked outside. I could only see a bit of the fight, but it was enough. Some of the dark purple Pokémon were lying on the ground. Mother or Father must have taken them out! I saw a burst of green as Father entered my field of vision.

            He was grappling with one of the sparkly-eyed purple Pokémon. Their claws were locked together and they stepped back and forth, trying to overpower the other. Father opened his mouth and launched a Bullet Seed attack into the other Pokémon's face that sent it flying.

            Father suddenly turned around. I wasn't expecting it, and had no time to hide. His eyes narrowed, and he started to open his mouth to say something, but he never got the chance.

            Another one of those clawed Pokémon jumped down from the cliff onto my father. It had one arm around his neck in a headlock, while the other was used to rake claws down Father's face.

            "FATHER!" I started to scream, but the word never left my lips. The Pokémon curled its claws in a fist and brought it down on the back of my father's head. Father's eyes went unfocused and his mouth opened as he dropped to the ground, unconscious.

            I heard a similar THUD behind me. Was that Mother? No! It's not possible! These horrible Pokémon couldn't have taken down my parents!

            Not knowing what else to do, I turned back into the bag and burrowed deep inside it. There were words exchanged outside, but I couldn't hear them clearly. I suddenly felt myself being lifted into the air. Someone was taking me someplace. But where?

 

***

  

            "TAKE OFF THE BLINDFOLDS." A voice I'd never heard before roared me awake.

            I found myself in complete darkness. It took me a second to remember what happened. That's right! How could I forget! Mother and Father were taken by those Pokémon! So where was I now?

            I opened the bag and crawled out of it. It seemed to be on the bottom of a pile of the rest of the things my parents owned. All the maps, books, and other items were all laid in a heap on the ground.

            I crawled off of the pile and hid up against a wall. It was made of dark grey stone, as was the rest of the place. I looked around, but I couldn't see much. We appeared to be on a cliff somewhere. With the sparse light from the deep grey sky, I could see three figures, but only the faint outline through the darkness. There were two tall objects that got large and round in the middle and then thinned out again. I had no idea what those could be. The other was the largest Pokémon I had ever seen. It appeared to be slightly off to the side of the other two figures. It stood on four legs and even one of them was taller than my Mother and Father combined! It glowed orange-yellow along its head and other parts of its body as well. What in the world was going on? Who was that giant Pokémon? And where were my parents?

            All of a sudden, I found all these questions answered.

            A light appeared from somewhere on top of the wall I was crouched against. It shined onto the scene in front of me, and I could see it all now.

            The giant Pokémon stood looming over the other figures. It was dark blue and had slate-grey knives of metal sticking out all over its body. A huge fan extended out of its back and I could see a huge, red diamond in its chest. It had staring, blood-red eyes. Could this be Primal Dialga? The Pokémon that controls time? The one Mother and Father were always talking about? But this monstrous Pokémon wasn't even scary compared to what stood next to it. I saw something at that moment that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

            The two objects turned out to be pillars. Black ropes were bound tightly around the middle. A body was tied up against each pillar. I stifled a gasp when I saw who they were.

            Mother and Father.

            I stared, wide-eyed at what was in front of me. What had happened with the battle? Why were Mother and Father tied up? What did they do wrong?

            I felt a sudden, desperate raging sensation bubble up inside my body. I had to help them! I was about to rush out, but something came near before I was even out of the shadow of the wall. A few of the dark purple Pokémon assembled around the pile of items.

            "YOU HAVE COMMITTED A HORRIBLE CRIME." I realized the roaring I had heard earlier came from the huge Pokémon. "THE RECORDS OF WHAT YOU DID WILL NEVER BE FOUND."

            It seemed to move its head in a huge nod, and a Pokémon came out from the shadows. I was immediately filled with some sort of irrational fright when I looked at it. The Pokémon was only a bit bigger than me. It floated in thin air, right above the ground. I could see from the light above the wall that it was grey colored. It had a white face and two white stripes on its back. But the scariest part was its eyes. The Pokémon had none. Just empty sockets. A small, red flame seemed to dance around inside the Pokémon's head.

            I pressed closer to the wall as one of the purple Pokémon that had come close earlier started to move. More came over and they all pushed the pile of items to the center in front of the huge Pokémon. The floating Pokémon came up. All of a sudden, purple-blue flames appeared above the Pokémon's hands. He sent the odd-colored embers towards the heap, and as soon as they made contact- FWOOOMSH! It all burst into flame.

            Though I was far away, I could see my mother's eyes widen. All my parents work was destroyed. How would they continue their mission now? What if they didn’t-?

            More of the dark purple Pokémon gathered up. They lined up in a half-circle around the pillars. The huge Pokémon stepped back and nodded again. The purple Pokémon unsheathed their claws.

            NO! I thought desperately. They were going to hurt Mother and Father while they were tied up! They couldn't even fight back! I was too shocked to move, paralyzed by fear. Not fear for myself, but for them.

            I found that I was unable to look away. The sparkly-eyed Pokémon raised their claws. They all brought them down at once.

            I saw my parents wince in pain. Father's teeth were clenched tightly together, and I could see tears rolling down my mother's face. And I was powerless to stop any of it.

            The ropes began to become frayed with each slash of claws. There was soon a large gap in the black material.

            YOU CAN GET OUT! I wanted to scream. ATTACK! PLEASE!

            I knew they couldn't hear me. I was foolish to think that they could. My mother and father's eyes stayed closed, unaware of the escape route right in front of them.

            Deep red scratches appeared on my parents’ skin. The blood stood out against their green coloring. I could tell they were losing this fight. They couldn't endure it much longer. I saw my mother's head droop, and then my father's, but their eyes were still opened.

            The huge Pokémon seemed to give another order and the onslaught of claws stopped. The purple Pokémon stepped back. They sped away into the shadows.

            Suddenly, everything that was happening hit me like a tidal wave. This Pokémon was killing my parents.

            Tears blurred my vision, but I couldn't turn away. I saw the blurry form of that floating Pokémon come up again. What was he doing? A purple glow appeared.

            NO.

            The ropes going up in flames was the last thing I saw before I finally clenched my eyes shut.

            There was no screaming. Nothing but the crackling of flames. My shoulders were shaking as I willed myself to keep quiet.

            And then... -Silence.

            I finally forced one eye open, but I didn't look towards the pillars, afraid of what I would see.

            The place was barren. The other Pokémon were gone. I was alone.

            And that's when something broke inside me.

            A wail escaped my lips. I could feel hot tears sliding down my cheeks. My breathing was heavy and came in short gasps. Images of fire and claws replayed in my mind.

            I came out from the shadow of the wall and came towards the center of the area. I forced my head to stay down. No. I would never look at the burned pillars. I wouldn't be able to bear it.

            Something crunched under my foot. I picked it up and saw that it was a charred piece of paper. Strangely, it wasn't all the way burnt. I unfolded the paper, and saw it was a picture.

            It was a drawing of a Time Gear.

            That was when I decided what to do. I would continue my parent's quest. I would find the Time Traveler. I would find the Time Gears in the past. I would stop Temporal Tower's crumbling.

   

            I would save the world.

 

***


	2. Chapter 1

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter One:

 

"Treasure Town: East." I read the sign at a crossroads where three dusty roads came together. At least, that's what it used to say. The words had been crossed out and these words were scratched out below the original:

"GIVE UP. EVERYTHING IS LOST. DARKNESS HAS RISEN WHILE THE SUN HAS NOT. THERE IS NOTHING LEFT."

            I shuddered as I read the words. It had only been a few hours since... the burning at the pillars. No. Don't think about that. I forced the thought out of my head. I had traveled through the night, or what counted for it, anyway. At that moment, I was just trying to find a place to rest, and a former town sounded like a good place to start.

            I turned down the eastward path and watched the scenery go by as I walked. Rocky formations rose out of the earth on both sides. They were dark grey, and the trees below were a lighter shade. Grey. Like everything else.

            I'll change this. I promise.

            I'd never been so far from home before. Father had taken me into the castle ruins we lived by once to study the human language, but that was the only time I had ever left. I had been told it was a temporary settlement, for us to live in while Mother and Father looked for the Time Traveler, but we had never left in the few months I lived there.

            Finally, I came to the end of the path. It branched off of a larger, dusty clearing in four directions. The ground was scuffed up, and random items were strewn about. Perhaps fights went on here? Mother told me that Pokémon were angry and vicious because of the darkness.

            I stepped out into the clearing and was suddenly greeted by a voice.

            "HEY! What're you doing here?"

            An orange and white Pokémon scuttled out from the southern path. It had long, spindly legs and walked sideways with its two claws in the air. The Pokémon's eyes were narrowed and looking straight at me with malice.

            "Um, I'm trying to find the town." I muttered.

            The Krabby clacked its claws. "Oh yeah? And why'n you wanna do that?"

            "Listen, pal," I said, a little fiercer than I planned to, "I've had a long day. I'm just trying to find a place to rest. Then I'll be on my way."

            "Whoa now!" the Krabby raised his claws in mock surprise, "Little Treecko's gettin' all tough! What're ya? Level two? I c'n take ya down, one second flat."

            "I'm level five." I growled through clenched teeth. I had battled a few Pokémon along the way, and had grown two levels.

            "That's what I thought." the Krabby snapped, "Now get movin' runt. No one's left here. Hightail it outta here and find some other Pokémon to bother."

            The Water-Type scuttled off, not before snapping its claws once more near my face. It left down the path I came on.

            I decided to take the northern path, wanting to stay as far away as I could from where that Krabby had come from. Mother certainly hadn't been kidding about corrupt Pokémon.

            To the north, there was a tall, stepped, rock formation. It didn't look naturally carved, so someone must have lived up there. Maybe they were still there.

            I climbed the grey stone stairs. The rock mesa rose up higher above the others. I could see similar, cylindrical, flat-topped stone towers in the distance.

            At the top, I looked out over the land beyond. Dull, lifeless color dominated the landscape. There was a large forest dotted with stone mesas. Not a single leaf moved. Even from up this high, I couldn't feel any wind blow.

            In front of me, there seemed to be a huge tent. Huge holes were ripped through the fabric, and the whole formation sagged on one side. I walked forward and read a splintered wooden sign that had fallen on the ground.

            "WIGGLYTUFF'S GUILD."

            So this place used to be an explorer's guild. Mother and Father told me they got their maps and supplies in similar places. I could probably find the same things here.

            I started to step through an opening in the fabric, but then stopped. I moved out and looked at the shredded tent one more time. Then, I noticed something else.

            Words were formed out of deep scratches in the material. Like someone had written with claws.

            "FOLLOW YOUR HOPE. FIND YOUR SUNRISE."

            Hope... Sunrise... I thought. In a world like this, who could have the audacity to even try to look for Hope? Only myself. I was the only one who believed a better future could be possible. Other Pokémon were mad, corrupt with darkness. I realized that these were the only words of encouragement I had seen so far, and probably the only ones I would see.

            Maybe someone else still held on to the small thread of Hope that I believed remained. The Hope for a better future. One where the sun still rose. Maybe I wasn't alone in my quest.

            I walked under the dilapidated tent and found an opening in the ground. It was a hole that led downwards. Looking down it, I could see small indentations going straight down in the wall. There must have been a ladder there at one time. I'd have to find some other way down. Luckily, I had a way.

            Because I was a Treecko, I was very adept at climbing. Mother told me that we have special paws that have little hooks on them, and these help us stick to things. On a couple of occasions, I had stuck to the cave roof upside-down! Getting down this tunnel would be no trouble at all.

            I crawled out into the hole. Sticking to one wall, I climbed down, headfirst. The tunnel was completely dark. I couldn't see anything, but I figured the hole must end somewhere, so I kept heading down.

            Finally, the tunnel ended. I ducked out of the hole, and found that I was still a few feet above the ground. The ladder must have begun here and continued up to the surface. I climbed down the back wall and onto the ground.

            The room was completely empty. Short grass covered the ground, and the stone walls rose up and around into a large room. Looking around, I found that, despite being underground, there were windows carved into the rock. The building was built into the side of a cliff.

            I decided to explore the rest of the place later. I was too tired to keep going. I walked over to the corner of the room, curled up, and tried to fall asleep.

            But whenever I closed my eyes, all I could see was what I tried hardest to forget.

            Roaring of the monster. Claws. Fire.

            My whole body shook as I cried myself to sleep.

 

***

 

            Someone shook me awake. They seemed to be muttering something; I couldn't quite understand.

            I opened my eyes, and I saw something I had never seen, and had never expected to ever see.

            There was a human girl standing before me.

            "Ahh!" I cried as I backed away, but I was already in a corner. It was no use.

            The human said something in a garbled language. She held out her hand in a caring sort of way.

            Though my body was frozen in fear, my mind was racing. What was a human doing here? Didn't they leave when time fell? Are humans dangerous? What does this one want from me?

            More garbled language came from the human. I realized I could understand some of the words she was speaking. Of course I couldn't have understood her earlier! Humans spoke the human language. I remembered Father taking me to the ruins to learn it.

            _"Why... you here?"_ I choked out the words of a tongue I hardly knew.

            The human looked surprised. _"You speak like a person! But you're a Poké_ _mon! Pokémon don't talk!"_

            I recognized the words about Pokémon not speaking. _"I learn... human. Not well."_ My mouth contoured awkwardly to form the human words.

            The girl looked thoughtful. _"I know some of the Pokémon language. I could talk like that if that'd be easier for you."_

            I picked up "Pokémon", "language", and "you" from what the girl said. I translated that to say that she must know how to speak in the language of Pokémon. That was a relief. "Yes!" I said in Pokémon.

            "Okay," the girl said the word in Pokémon. Strangely, the word sounded nice coming from her voice, not like the garbled human tongue. "So, what are you doing here, Treecko?"

            I must have looked odd right then. I was a low-leveled Treecko out on my own, with no family to go to and no place to call home. And then there was the fact that I was invading this crumbled guild just to sleep.

            I tried to explain, "I needed a place to rest. I don't have a-" I had to stop myself from saying 'family'. "-home... anymore."

            "Then I guess we're one in the same." the girl said. "I'm guessing we both came to Treasure Town, or at least what's left of it, for the same reason, right? Trying to find some way to live in this dark world."

            I was surprised about how much this human's words reminded me of my mother's. I nodded my head, agreeing with her.

            The human came and sat down next to me. I realized she was much bigger than I was, but perhaps a bit shorter than Father. The girl had short, dark colored fur- or were those feathers? - on her head. She was wearing some sort of material like the Explorer's scarves. The upper half of her body was covered in a black colored fabric with a thicker, brown one on top of it. Her lower half was wearing a long, lighter brown material that covered both of her legs. She even wore some hard, thick objects to protect her feet. Perhaps all these items heightened her abilities like an Explorer's scarf did?

            "My name's Cinder, by the way." the girl explained. "And you're Treecko, right? I'm just making sure you don't have a different name or something."

            "No, I'm just Treecko." I said. I'd heard of some Pokémon that had names other than their species. But I was content with my name.

            "Well, Treecko," Cinder sighed. "We're in the same boat, so to speak. We both have nowhere to go and nowhere to go back to."

            That's where you're wrong. I thought. I do have somewhere to go. Something to do.

            "What do you plan on doing, Treecko?" Cinder asked, like she read my mind.

            I weighed my options in my head. Telling her certainly wouldn't make any difference, right? A human couldn't help me in my quest. She probably wouldn't even want to come along anyway. Why would a human want to meddle in Pokémon affairs anyway?

            It's her world too, I realized.

            And before I could stop myself, the story was pouring out. I told the girl all that had happened. I told her everything. The battle. My parents being taken. Awakening to see them tied to pillars. The claws... and then the fire. I could hardly keep talking through the tears.

            Cinder didn't say a thing throughout the whole story. She listened with interest at the start, and later seemed as though she would cry herself.

            I suddenly felt her arms wrapped around me.

            "Oh, Treecko." Cinder breathed, "I'm so sorry. I can't believe that-... Oh, Treecko..."

            I was shocked at this embrace. I barely knew this human! I suppose I should have expected it, for me spilling my guts like that. It just felt so good to have someone listening.

            Cinder pulled away from me, and I watched her eyes light up. "Hey! I know something that you have to see. Come on!"

            The girl got up and backed away from where I was still sitting. She took a running start, leaped up and grabbed the edge of the hole up above. Cinder braced her hands and feet against the walls of the hole and spidered her way up until finally grabbing another ledge and crawling in. She called down, "Come on, Treecko!"

            I hesitated in following. I was still pretty shaken up after telling the girl all that had happened to me. If I could trust her with that, I could trust her with anything. She was probably just trying to cheer me up, anyhow. I climbed up the side of the wall to follow after her.

            The ledge that Cinder had crawled into split two ways. The first went out to the side of the cliff. I looked into it, and it seemed lighter because of the windows in the sides of the cliff. But the girl had gone the other way, so I did as well. The other path led down a darker tunnel and it finally spread out to a small, windowless room. I stepped in and looked around. Oddly enough, there was still light in the room. On the walls, torches were lit. Their flames were frozen in place, but they gave off dim light. I watched Cinder walk towards the center of the room. Tall bookcases were lined up on one side of her, and a short table with stools was on the other side.

            Cinder moved towards the bookcases. "I came here yesterday as well, before you. I found this place while climbing down the main tunnel. This seems to have been the guild's head of knowledge. You gotta look around, Treecko. There's so many interesting things here!"

            Is there anything about the Time Gears? I wondered, as I walked over to the bookcases. There were titles like Explorer's Guide, Foods and Gummis, and How to find a Perfect Apple, but nothing about Time Gears. I was just about to check the other side when Cinder came over and shoved the cover of a book into my face.

            "Look at this!" Cinder said excitedly, "This book is about the Unown language!"

            I had never heard of this. "The Unown language?"

            "Yeah!" Cinder beckoned me over to the table, sat on one of the stools, and placed the book on the tabletop. I climbed onto one of the stools as well and I looked at the book's cover. The Unown and the Unknown was the title, and it was covered in intricate designs and strange markings.

            Cinder opened the book. The main text was written in two languages. The first text was in Footprint Runes, which is what Pokémon wrote in, and the second was the same thing, except written in the human language.

            "What is the Unown language?" I asked Cinder as she read the book, her finger tracing underneath lines of the human text.

            "It's an ancient script written in letters that look like a Pokémon called Unown. I've seen the inscriptions one time, but I had no idea what they meant." Cinder looked up from reading, "If I were to study these runes, I could go back and read what they said there."

            I looked at the text written the book. I found the Unown letters were quite easy to comprehend. The Unown turned out to be Pokémon that were shaped like letters of the human language. All I had to do was translate the Footprint Runes to the human text, and then use that to read the Unown language.

            "Why do you think the Guild had a book for just learning the Unown language?" I asked.

            "Apparently, it's not just for the Unown script." Cinder started, as she flipped through the pages, "There are other things written here. It's not called The Unown and the Unknown for nothing. Look at this!"

            Cinder pointed to another page in the book. "The book seems to be all on the topic of unsolved mysteries. This section talks all about Mystery Dungeons, and there's even one about humans! Oh, and look! This chapter is about mysteries of time and space!"

            I was immediately interested. This could be what I was looking for!

            I grabbed the book from Cinder and started flipping through the chapter she was talking about.

            "Whoa!" Cinder said, surprised, "Something interest you, Treecko?"

            "My parents were investigating the planet's paralysis." I explained while skimming through the chapter, "They had a plan to go back in time to prevent Temporal Tower from collapsing. For it to work, they had to find the locations of the Time Gears in the past. My parents had all the research done; they knew where all the Time Gears were. The last part of the plan was to find a Pokémon that can travel through time. But all their research was destroyed, so I'm out of leads. I was hoping to find information in this- oh, look!"

            I pointed to the page the book was opened to. On it was a drawing of a Time Gear. I reached into the pouch I wore that was slung around my neck and shoulder and pulled out the burnt piece of paper. I unfolded it next to the picture in the book. The two were identical.

            The drawings were in color, so I could see what the Time Gears looked like. They were relatively small, if the drawing represented the actual size. The relics were light blue colored with darker blue indentations. There were six spokes circling a hexagonal hole in the middle. Each of the spokes had a darker blue straight line carved into it, ending in a diamond shape. In between these were smaller, thin marks; dark blue like the rest of the indents, that were marked at each interval where a spoke did not extend out of. Though it was just a picture, I still felt awe-inspired to look at such a wonder.

            "So you're trying to find the locations of the Time Gears as they were in the past, so they you can go back in time, collect them, and then do whatever to stop Temporal Tower from crumbling?"

            "That pretty much sums it all up." I said. "Placing the Time Gears in the Tower would stop it from collapsing and thus stop the planet from becoming paralyzed."

            "But what about this Time Traveler?" Cinder asked. "I've never heard of a Pokémon that can travel through time."

            "Maybe there's something in the book," I said, already beginning to flip through the pages.

            I finally came to the page. Mysteries of Time Travel was written across the top in Footprint Runes and then the human language. On the first page, there was a picture of Dialga. My eyes narrowed in anger and a growl rose from deep in my throat. I reminded myself it was just a picture, but still....

            The picture of Dialga had writing underneath. It stated that Dialga governed time from Temporal Tower. The Tower itself controlled time. According to the text, Dialga could travel through time by itself for short trips across only a few years. To span generations, Dialga had to be physically at Temporal Tower. He could tap into the structure's power for himself to use. After doing that, Dialga had to remain dormant for a while to regain power.

            The other page had another picture of a Pokémon. It was one I had never seen before. This Pokémon was green colored, and it had translucent wings. It had large, black-rimmed eyes, and two blue-tipped antennae. Surprisingly, I felt myself blushing. This Pokémon was very pretty.

            "Celebi, the Time-Travel Pokémon." Cinder read the text below the drawing. "She seems like the one your parents were looking for."

            "Yeah," I nodded. The text read on to explain more about the Pokémon. It had similar abilities to those of Dialga, except Celebi didn't physically control time. She could only travel through it at will. Like Dialga, Celebi needed a bigger power source to travel over multiple generations of time. She apparently used something called the Passage of Time.

            "So you're going to locate all the Time Gears in this world, find this Celebi Pokémon, travel back in time and find the Time Gears again, put them in Temporal Tower, and you're going to do this all on your own?" Cinder listed off my whole plan, and finished by giving me a sideways glance and raising one eyebrow.

            "Yes, I am." Even as I said it, I realized that it sounded impossible. I was just a level five Treecko, for Arceus' sake! How in the world was I going to do this?

            Luckily, I didn't have to think of another way, because what Cinder said next gave me the answer. "Well, I'm coming with you."

            "What?" I cried, perplexed.

            "You couldn't possibly do this on your own." Cinder stated, "I can help. Two heads are better than one, you know."

            It was unheard of!  A Pokémon and a human working together?

            "Come on!" Cinder pleaded, "I want to change the world too. I'm tired of this darkness, and if I could do something to change the world for a better future for everyone, I'll do anything to make that happen."

            "We may need to fight." I said, hoping for her to change her mind. "If Dialga and his cronies find out that we're doing this, they'll be after us for sure."

            "I can fight!" Cinder said forcefully. She reached behind her. For the first time, I noticed Cinder had something made a metal strapped to her back beneath her bag. The girl pulled on the handle and the SHIING of metal-on-metal filled the air.

            Cinder stood back and braced the weapon out in front of her. Father had told me that humans don't use moves and attacks like Pokémon did. They made their own weapons and used those to fight.

            Cinder's sword was made of grey metal. It was about as long as two of me combined, and it was completely straight. A line was carved straight down the middle. A bigger metal piece was fixed on top of the handle below the blade and there was circular blue gem placed in the middle. The rest of the handle was made of a darker grey metal than the rest of the sword.

            My eyes widened, "Couldn't that..." I gulped, "Kill someone?"

            "Normally, it would." Cinder said, turning the blade around in front of her, "But the edges are blunted so it doesn't hurt too much if you get cut. I use it mostly to whack enemies away." She traced her finger down the edge of the blade, and pulled it away without a scratch, to prove her point.

            I nodded and then turned back to the book. "So where do you want to go first?"

            "So I am coming?" Cinder slid her sword back into its scabbard.

            I sighed. "You're right. A Pokémon and a human working together is better than one little Treecko on his own. So I guess you're going to help me save the world."

            "Great!" Cinder said as she came back over to the table. "Do you remember where any of the Time Gears were located? You said your parents had some maps."

            "And they were burnt." I scowled. "But yeah, they did have them. The locations were all marked and everything. I only looked at them a few times; I didn't think I'd actually need them!"

            "It's fine!" Cinder placed a hand on my shoulder. "We can find them again! Maybe there's a map in the book."

            I flipped back to the chapter about Time Gears, and it was there that I found a map of the Pokémon World. It looked like the colored one that my parents had. The one from the past!

            "All I remember is that there were five of them." I said, studying the map. There was nothing marked on it to indicate where the Time Gears might have been. "They were pretty spread out around the world as well."

            "Here, let me try something." Cinder leaned closer to the book. She closed her eyes and hovered her finger above the map. She placed it down randomly and it landed where a drawing of the ocean was. Cinder opened her eyes and waited a moment. Something must have not worked like she wanted it to, so she tried it again. The second time, Cinder's finger landed on the drawing of the eastern forest.

            Cinder's face immediately consorted in pain. She bared her teeth and moaned.

            "Cinder!" I cried. What was going on?

            "No!" Cinder yelled out through clenched teeth, "Treecko! It's fine! It's just-..."

            The girl's eyes suddenly went wide. She stood stone-still for a moment, until she finally breathed again and fell onto the table.

            "Cinder!" I cried again. The girl picked herself up and rubbed her head.

            "It's fine, Treecko." Cinder said. "I'm fine."

            "What was all that?" I asked.

            "I have this strange... ability, I guess you could call it." Cinder explained, "I don't really know much about it myself, but sometimes, when I touch certain objects, I see a vision. And I get a bad headache."

            "A vision?" I echoed. "What do you see?"

            "They're of the past or the future." Cinder said.

            "That's amazing!" I exclaimed. "What did you just see now?"

            "I saw a forest. It was horribly dull and grey, so it must have been not very far into the future or past." Cinder said, as she looked back at the map. "And according to this, what I saw must have been Treeshroud Forest!"

            "Well, come on, then!" I said, jumping up. "Let's go!"

            "It looks like Treeshroud Forest is a while away from the Guild, but if we go now, we should get there in a few hours." Cinder said.

            "That's what I'm saying!" I sighed.

            "Right. Let's go." Cinder put the book into her backpack. Then, she went over to the bookcases and came back with a map.

            "It'll be easier to use this one," Cinder explained, putting it away as well. "And also so we don't ruin the book."

            "Is there anywhere in the Guild where we can get supplies?" I asked.

            Cinder thought for a moment and then said, "I think there's a storage room on the lowest floor."

            We exited the book room and climbed back down the tunnel we came through earlier, entering into the room on the lowest floor of the Guild. I followed Cinder to a hallway on the left. We came out in a large room. It had an oblong, wooden table set up in the middle, surrounded by multiple stools. Everything that was needed for a big dinner was still laid out on the table. It was like whoever had lived here had to leave in a huge hurry and didn't bother cleaning up.

            "Ooh, creepy." Cinder said. She walked over to a corner of the room. There were large baskets of fruit there, and the girl started taking some and placing them into her backpack.

            "Okay, we got Oran Berries, Pechas... some Rawst... oh look! They even have Seeds here! Those'll be helpful."

            I walked over to where Cinder was to see what she was packing. She grabbed a handful of pale-colored Seeds with red marking and poured them into a pouch on her bag. "Those were Blast Seeds. They make you spit fire! And humans can use them too!"

            As Cinder grabbed more items, she named them off. "X-Eye Seeds, Heal Seeds, Quick Seeds... Iron Thorns? What are those doing in the food section? Oh well. We could still use them. Here are some Apples. Definitely need those."

            I looked around where Cinder was gathering supplies, and found something she hadn't packed yet. They were some kind of Seed. Like other Seeds, these were pale colored, but these had light green and white markings. 

            "What are these?" I asked, holding one up for Cinder to see.

            "Oh, good! You found them!" Cinder said, smiling. "Those are Reviver Seeds! I was looking for those!"

            "What do they do?"

            "They wake you up if you get knocked out." Cinder explained. "These'll certainly be useful."

            I packed some items in my own pouch, and Cinder got a few more things. Finally, we were ready to set off.

            "Treeshroud Forest's in the east, right?" I asked as we walked down the stairs in front of the Guild.

            "I'll check one more time, just to be sure." Cinder said, pulling out the paper map. She looked over it and then said, "Yep! We have to go west from here. We can probably skirt around dungeons if we waver our path a bit. That'll probably be better. We'll have to go through some fields first and then start heading northwest over some rocky terrain near Mt. Bristle."

            "Well, that'll give me the perfect time to train and grow more levels!" I said. "We have to be strong if we're going to save the world. What level are you?"

            Cinder laughed so hard, she could barely put the map away. She tried to stop, looked at me again, and the laughed some more.

            "What?" I said, confused. "What's so funny? Really, what level are you, Cinder?"

            "H- Hu-" Cinder tried to speak through her giggles, "Humans don't grow levels, silly!"

            "What? They don't?" I exclaimed. "That's so weird! How do you know how strong you are?"

            "I guess we just don't." Cinder finally calmed down enough to talk normally. "But we do have ages, if that counts. Humans get older each year. That could be a kind of leveling up, I think."

            "If you say so." I shrugged, and we continued down the stairs. At the bottom, we turned right and left Treasure Town.

 

***

            "Hey, could you touch that?"

     Cinder and I had walked for hours after leaving Treasure Town. It was a long journey, and there were quite a few Pokémon we had to battle along the way. I'd grown almost ten levels in only a few hours! Cinder said it was because the Pokémon in these areas were stronger than I was. She actually fought pretty well with her sword. We were just arriving at an odd formation of rocks that stood off to the side of the path we were following to Treeshroud Forest. Looking past the rocks, I could see Mt. Bristle in the distance to the east.

            "What?" Cinder asked. "You want me to touch a pile of rocks?"

            "Sure, why not?" I shrugged. "Maybe it'll trigger one of your visions."

            "It's worth a try." Cinder reasoned.

            She followed me as we walked over to the rocks. They were darker grey colored than the sandy ground beneath them. The rocks were flat on all sides, like cubes, and they were cemented on top of each other into a pile that was at least three times as tall as Cinder was.

            Cinder came up to one of the blocks that was sticking out further than either one on the top of bottom of it. She laid her hand on the flat surface.

            "Anything?" I asked, hopefully.

            Cinder waited a moment, and then stepped back. "Nope. Guess not. Maybe it only works on things associated with Time Gears?"

            "Guess so." I said, and we left the rocks and continued walking.

            The path turned to the left and we entered a ravine with mountains on both sides. To the south, Mt. Bristle loomed over us. Its grey peaks reached up and seemed to pierce the sky. I looked to the other side of the ravine, and a lighter-colored series of mountains towered up into the sky and left us in the shadows. I was glad when Treeshroud Forest finally came into view on the horizon.

            Despite being a Grass Type, I'd never been even close to a forest before. Mother told me about them, though. They were supposed to be havens of green plants, beautiful flowers, gentle breezes, and sunlight dappling through the treetops. What I saw in Treeshroud Forest was the complete opposite.

            Not a single leaf on any tree even quivered. The ground was a dusty grey. All the flowers that had once been beautiful were closed up and dull colored. There was no sunlight, so the woods looked dark and spooky. It didn't seem like a haven at all. Just somewhere that you definitely didn't want to go into because of the fear of getting lost.

            Cinder unsheathed her sword as we stepped through the trees entering the forest. She braced the blade out in front of her and walked forward locked in a fighter's stance. I moved in after her, walking sideways to cover behind us. My eyes were wide open, looking for anything that moved, and I kept myself in a fighting position.

            Suddenly, a growl came from the bushes in front of us. Cinder stopped moving, and I stepped up beside her, ready to fight.

            There was a flash of red as a Pokémon sprang at us. It landed out in front of Cinder. The Pokémon's body had coarse, black fur with a brighter orange color on its muzzle. Two, bone-white horns curled around its head and similar features covered its back and paws. A thin, pointed tail snapped out behind it like a whip.

            Fire licked at the Houndoom's jaws as it barked, "Get out! Get out of here! This is MY territory!"

            I unconsciously took a step back. When I saw that fire, all I could think of was... a purple flash. The ropes igniting. No screaming. Nothing. Just silence.

            "TREECKO!" Cinder's panicked scream jarred me out of my thoughts.

            I realized what was happening just in time to dodge the Fire-Dark Pokémon's Flamethrower move. The Houndoom leaped at me again, its claws withdrawn. I dodged again and it him straight in the middle of his head with a well-placed Pound. The Fire dog backed up with a few dazed steps, and this gave Cinder a chance to move in.

            The girl swung and hit the Houndoom with the flat of her sword. She spun around and kept the Fire-Dark Pokémon in the air; it was brought up against her blade with the momentum of the movement. Cinder stepped forwards and the Houndoom found itself with his back pushed forcefully against a tree. Cinder had her hand at its throat, holding tight, but not enough to choke the Pokémon. The girl put the tip of her sword under the Houndoom's chin, and it whimpered and shied away.

            "I won't hurt you," Cinder stated in the Pokémon language, so the Houndoom could understand, "As long as you get out of this forest and never bother us again."

            "I- I'll leave!" The Fire-Dark Pokémon yelped as its eyes darted to Cinder's sword. The girl lowered her blade and dropped the Houndoom to the ground. It scrambled to pick itself up and then bounded away with its tail between its legs.

            "That was impressive." I never got tired of watching Cinder fight.

            "Not too bad yourself." Cinder replied, "That was a nice Pound you did there."

            I shrugged. Truthfully, I wished to learn stronger moves. Pound was good for the situation we were just in, and Quick Attack was excellent for attacking swifter foes. My Absorb move certainly wouldn't have helped against that Houndoom. I thought back to my father's Leaf Blade move. I still couldn't wait to be as powerful as him.

            Cinder kept walking, with me along behind her. She reached up to grab a tree branch that was in the way, when she suddenly cried out and doubled over, clutching her head in pain.

            "Cinder!" I yelled, rushing to her side.

            "Ju- just a vision!" Cinder moaned through clenched teeth.

            I relaxed a bit at her words. It would be better if Cinder could get her visions without headaches, though. I'm scared for her every time.

            Cinder grunted in pain. She suddenly froze and stood straight up with her eyes wide open. A moment later, she fell forward, but recovered just in time to place her hands out in front of her to break her fall.

            "What did you see?" I asked, grabbing her arm as she knelt on the ground.

            Cinder rubbed her head. "I didn't see anything. There was just heard a voice. It said something like 'I've finally found it! A Time Gear!'," Cinder mimicked a deeper voice when she said what she heard. "That means it must be here somewhere! Come on, we must be close!"

            The girl picked herself up and took off running, with me racing behind to keep up. Cinder pushed branches out of the way, dodging around bushes and rocks as she ran. It was hard for me to run so fast; her steps were a lot longer than mine, so she covered more ground. I lost sight of her through the tree cover.

            "Cinder!" I called. There was no answer.

            I decided to climb a tree to see if I could spot her from above. The special hooks on my paws assisted me in clinging to the bark. But even when from my advantageous viewing point, Cinder was nowhere in sight.

            I looked ahead of me through the grey leaves of the tree I was crouched in. Some branches from the next tree reached close to the one I was in. Would I make it if I jumped? I resolved to take the chance. The drop wasn't too far, anyway.

            As I got ready to spring, I found that my natural instincts kicked in. Somehow, I unconsciously placed together that this was something Treecko and their evolutions did all the time. My instincts told me exactly where to place my feet to jump, how far I would fly, and where I would land. This all happened in mere moments, and I suddenly found myself on the other branch that I had just been looking at seconds before. This would certainly be faster than running on the ground.

            I let my instincts guide me as I leaped from branch to branch in the treetops. The leaves and limbs of the trees seemed to bend out of the way for me. I was moving so fast, it felt like flying! I was flying! The feeling was unlike any I had experienced before. It was euphoric. I felt at peace with the world. Like I had finally connected a missing link with what I was.

            There was the sound of footsteps on the ground below me. I stopped moving, grabbing onto a branch to slow my speed. I listened.

            Thump thump. Crack. Thump thump.

            It was the sounds of two feet hitting the ground at a run. No Pokémon in Treeshroud Forest walked on two legs.

            Cinder.

I resumed jumping through the treetops. The branches barely quivered as I landed on them. I made no sound. I soon heard the footfalls that Cinder made behind me. I stopped again and looked down. The thumping of feet was closer, but still behind me. Cinder was coming. I just had to...

            "AH!" Cinder screamed as I dropped suddenly in front of her from the branches above.  "Treecko! What in Arceus' name?"

            Tears of mirth formed in my eyes as I laughed. "Got you!"

            Cinder's eyes were wide as she breathed heavily. "Goodness, Treecko! You got me alright! Where in the world did you come from? I thought you were behind me!"

            I relayed my experience in the treetops to the girl. She agreed with me that jumping through the trees must be a natural thing for Pokémon of my species. I decided to walk beside her as we continued through the woods. Cinder insisted that the Time Gear was close.

            Cinder crashed through the bushes into a clearing. I came up behind her, and we both stopped.

            There was a greenish glow coming from up ahead.

            Cinder and I both walked forward slowly in awe. Thoughts raced through my mind.Is that light the Time Gear? What if it's not? What if there really isn't a Time Gear here?

            I walked beside Cinder as we moved closer to the glow. The clearing narrowed as the trees on both sides of us grew thicker. Their trunks were wider and vines of ivy clung to the bark. This part of the forest must be more ancient than the rest.

            "Look, Treecko!" Cinder cried out.

            I looked ahead, and saw what she was indicating.

            The clearing ended abruptly. A few flat stones with rounded edges stood upright where the trees stopped. Curly vines swayed out above them. The ancient trees on both sides entwined their branches together and formed a gap in the plants surrounding the grey stones. But what was floating in the middle of the gap that was the most intriguing.

            A small, metallic-grey, hexagon-shaped pebble was suspended in the air between the vines. An intricate pattern of green light surrounded the stone. It certainly wasn't a Time Gear, but what exactly was it?

            Cinder came closer to where the pebble was suspended. The light green glow reflected off its six edges. The girl looked at it with an odd expression.

            "What is this?" She finally asked. "We were looking for a Time Gear! What in Arceus' name is this?"

            I didn't have an answer, so I said nothing. I was just as confused as Cinder was. I moved up beside her, closer to where the strange, hexagonal stone floated, fixated in green light.

            This isn't a normal pebble. I thought, looking at it. It wouldn't have that light. And it surely wouldn't be floating! But what is it? Does it have any significance?

            I examined the pebble more closely. Six sides... That fact kept coming back to me, but I just couldn't place what it meant.

            Wait.

            Six sides...

            Six sides!

            "Cinder!" I yelled, whirling around at her. "This pebble is part of the Time Gear!"

            "What do you mean?" the girl asked.

            "Look at it!" I said, pointing to the pebble. "It has six sides! What else has six sides?"

            "A Time Gear!" Cinder's eyebrows shot up as she realized.

            "Yes!" I answered, "A Time Gear has six spokes! And the middle of it has a hexagon carved out of it! A hexagon has six sides so..." I waited for her to finish my thought.

            "This is like the middle of a Time Gear!" Cinder realized, piecing it together.

            "And that must mean there was one here in the past!" I didn't actually know if that fact was true or not. It sounded correct. "These pebbles must be all that's left when a Time Gear disappears, and when Temporal Tower fell, these were left here in the planet's paralysis!"

            "That sounds about right," Cinder speculated. "But I think I could prove your theory.  Think this'd trigger a vision?"

            "What're you waiting for?" I said.

            Cinder reached out and grabbed the pebble. I watched her as seconds ticked by.

            "Maybe it's not- AH!" Cinder didn't get to finish her sentence. She fell to her knees, still clutching the pebble. She grabbed her head with her free hand.

            I winced. Cinder always seemed in so much pain with her visions. I couldn't imagine how that felt.

            Cinder suddenly was completely still, her eyes wide. I realized that she was seeing the vision each time she reached this stage. Cinder was already close to the ground, so she had no time to catch herself when she fell forward. She didn't fall far or hard, so she picked herself up and sat cross-legged on the grey forest floor.

            "What did you see?" I asked. Her answer could be the most important thing in this quest. It all counted on if the Time Gears really were in the past or not. And Cinder was about to answer this question.

            "It's here." Cinder breathed. "The Time Gear! I saw it! It was here!"

            "Was it in the past?" I queried.

            "Oh, Treecko." Cinder's voice was full of emotion. "I saw the past for sure. I saw this same forest, but it was green! Full of life! There was sunlight through the branches! Wind rustled the leaves! There were flowers of every color! I can't believe it now even after I saw it! Oh, Treecko! It was amazing!"

            I tried to picture what she described in my head, but I found it to be impossible. I simply just hadn't seen anything like she said. When I pictured a forest, I saw the one we were in at that moment. A grey, lifeless, unmoving place. No color. No sunlight. I was suddenly filled with jealousy directed at Cinder. Why did she get to see that, and I didn't? Why did she get to experience something I could never even dream of seeing? I immediately felt guilty at these thoughts. I should be feeling excited, not angry! Cinder just located the Time Gear! My parents were right! There is Hope for the future!

            Cinder looked down at the pebble. It had dissolved in her hand, not even leaving any dust behind. "I guess its purpose has been served." Cinder reasoned.

            "So where to next?" I asked.

            "One down, four to go." Cinder said.

 

***

 


	3. Chapter 2

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Two:

 

Branches creaked under my feet as Cinder walked through Dusk Forest with me above her. The next Time Gear we were heading for was, according to our map and Cinder's visions, in a place called Boulder Quarry. It was a rocky, cavernous plateau beyond the Southern Jungle. To even get to the Southern Jungle, we had to get through Dusk Forest. Cinder said that the forest got its name from the perpetual, dark fog that surrounded the forest.

            "You know," Cinder looked up at me as she walked. I had taken to jumping through the trees above her while we traveled through forests. "I think this place used to be called Mystifying Forest before time stopped. There was supposed to be something here that Pokémon used to evolve."

            "Really?" I said, reaching for another branch. "Do you think it's still here?"

            "Maybe." Cinder said. "I don't know if it'd still work though. You were supposed to evolve a few levels ago, right?"

            "Yeah," I huffed. While getting out of Treeshroud Forest and traveling to Dusk Forest, I had grown a few levels. When I reached level sixteen, there had been some incredible energy burst through my body. I somehow immediately knew that I was supposed to evolve at that level, but a Pokémon needed to go to a special place to be able to do so. So as a result, I was now a level twenty Treecko.

            The branches in front of me stopped suddenly as we entered a clearing. I jumped down on the ground beside Cinder to survey the area. In front of us was a large, circular space surrounded by trees. Water was frozen in place, trickling from the edges of the clearing, draining into the center that was lower in the ground. There was a spot of grey grass in the middle of the circle that looked lighter than the rest. Like light had shone there at one time.

            "Cinder!" I cried, looking up at her. "I think we found it! This must be that place where Pokémon can evolve!"

            "How coincidental is that?" But still, the girl looked impressed. "Well, I would usually try to see if that's right," Cinder started. "But I don't think this place is related to a Time Gear, so my ability won't work. So I say go ahead! What's the worst that could happen?"

            "Hey, don't jinx it!" I joked. "But sure, I'll go check it out. Cover me, just in case some rogue Pokémon jumps out."

            Cinder nodded and drew her sword. I looked back at her one more time before walking into the center of the clearing. Turning back around, I faced Cinder. And I waited.

            Suddenly, there was a faint voice in my head. I could hardly hear what it was saying.

            _Ye... seek... awakening. This... Luminous Spring. Do... seek.... evolution?_

            This must be whatever caused Pokémon to evolve speaking to me. What was it saying? Do I seek evolution? Yes! That's it!

            _Yes, I do,_ I called out with my mind.

            _Good... item... required?_

            Did I need an item to evolve? I didn't think so.

            _No,_ I thought.

            _Good... le-... begin._

            All of a sudden, a huge surge of energy erupted inside my body. It filled me up so much, I felt as if I would explode with all that power inside me. White light shone through my body. It was so bright, I had to squeeze my eyes shut. It was the brightest thing I had ever seen! The energy in my body was so powerful, I felt like I would faint at any second. I doubted I could bear it for much longer.

            There was one more burst of light; the brightest so far. And as quickly as it had started, the energy had suddenly left my body. I felt empty with the absence of all that power, but the experience left me fatigued. Breathing heavily, I fell to my knees.

            Cinder came up to me. "Wow. That looked amazing! All that light! How do you feel?"

            "Not much different," I panted as my breathing returned to normal. I found my voice to be deeper than it had been before. "Maybe a little stronger. It's subtle, but I think I can definitely feel something different."

            "How 'bout looking different?" Cinder said, her voice hinting something.

            I hadn't thought about how evolving would change me physically. Looking down at my paws, I could see they weren't even paws anymore. I had two large claws.

            I stood up and spun around, trying to get a good look at myself. Three large leaves had sprouted from my elbows. I almost fell over backwards, but I could see my tail had changed into two thick, dark green leaves. Looking down, I found that my feet also had two large claws like my forelimbs did.

            "Nice hair." Cinder commented. The girl had told me that the material on her head wasn't fur or feathers. She called it 'hair', but why would I have that now?

            I reached up onto my head and found yet another leaf had sprouted. I traced my claw down its sleek edge and found that it was quite long. It was stiff and curled around, extending to almost my tail.

            "So I'm definitely not a Treecko anymore," I said. "What am I now?"

            "See for yourself." Cinder dug into her bag and tossed me an item. I caught it in the air, and found that it was a Technical Machine disc. I hadn't used one before, but apparently they taught Pokémon new moves. I looked into my reflection on the metallic surface.

            The face of a Grovyle was staring back at me.

            "Grovyle..." I said my new name.

            "Yep." Cinder said, smiling. "I guess I'm going to have to get used to calling you that from now on. You can use that TM by the way, if you want."

            I turned the disc over and read what was written on the other side. It was a TM for the move Dig. I suppose that move could help. My arsenal of attacks now consisted of Pound, Quick Attack, Absorb, and Pursuit. If I learned Dig, I could probably afford to lose Pursuit. I didn't use that move often anyway.

            I touched my claw to the center of the disc. It glowed brightly for a moment and then the light faded. I looked at the disc again and found that it had turned a transparent grey; no longer of use.

            Deciding to test out my new move, I crouched down close to the ground. I sprang up higher than I could ever could in my previous form. I twisted in the air and dug my claws into the earth as I dove back down. The soil moved incredibly easily thanks to the move I was using. When I was about a foot underground, I turned back around and tunneled my way to the surface.

            "I would guess that TM was Dig?" Cinder said to me as I emerged out of the dirt.

            "You'd guess correctly." I answered. "This move will certainly help if we have to hide for whatever reason."

            "True." Cinder said. "Did you learn any other moves when you evolved?"

            The moves I knew immediately came to my mind. It had been unchanged from when I was reviewing them before learning Dig. I frowned in disappointment when I found that I still hadn't learned Leaf Blade. Even with evolving and growing stronger, I still didn't know the move I wanted to learn most. The one I most admired my father for. The one I missed seeing him perform.

            "Let's get moving." I grumbled. Cinder followed me out of the clearing.

 

***

 

            About an hour later, we were still walking through Dusk Forest. Cinder insisted were close to the Southern Jungle, but I wasn't convinced.

            With my evolving into a Grovyle, I found that I was considerably taller than I had been. Cinder still had at least two feet on me, but I was able to keep up with her while on the ground a lot better. When I needed to be beside Cinder on the ground, I discovered that my powerful, newly-evolved legs could allow me to move along with short hops. Moving in the treetops was still faster by far, but I tried to stay alongside Cinder whenever I could, in case we ever needed to fight an enemy together. And to make sure she was safe.

            "Do you think we're close enough to the Time Gear for your ability to work?" I asked Cinder. "I’d just like to know if we're getting closer, that's all. We've been in this forest for hours!"

            "Someone's impatient!" Cinder joked. "But I'll see..." She looked around for something that might serve her purpose. Finally, she found a rugged grey boulder in between some trees. Cinder reached out and touched the rock.

            I waited for a moment before asking, "Anything?"

            Cinder had a skeptical look on her face. "Nope. I'm not getting a headache or anything. We must not be close enough to the Time Gear."

            "If there even is one at the end of this forest." I mumbled.

            _"Hello-o!"_

            I looked at Cinder. "Was that you?"

            She looked at me confusedly. "Was what me?"

            "That voice!" I exclaimed. "Did you not hear it?"

            _"Hehe!"_ The voice I had heard before giggled.

            "How about that time?" I asked Cinder.

            Cinder's eyes were wide. "I heard it too." She unsheathed her sword and braced it out in front of her. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

            _"Oh, how silly of me! You can't see me, can you? Well, I'll just fix that!"_

            A burst of white light suddenly flashed in front of Cinder and I. Bright sparkles swirled in and out around the light until finally fading and leaving something in their place. I stared at the Pokémon that had appeared.

            It was the Time Traveler.

            I could scarcely believe my eyes. I remembered Cinder and I reading about this Pokémon back at the guild. This Pokémon fit its description and picture almost perfectly. But at the same time, it was completely different. The Time Traveling Pokémon I had read about had been green colored. The one that had appeared in front of us was pink. I recalled finding the picture of the Time Traveler being pretty. Somehow, this Pokémon being pink only added to that beauty. It was a few seconds before I could find my voice.

            "A-are you... Celebi?" I stumbled over the words.

            "Oh, so you've heard of me?" the pink Pokémon blinked her eyes rapidly. "How kind of you!" She spun in a circle surrounded by a shower of sparkles. "But you're right! Celebi the Time Traveler at your service!"

            "Um, not to be rude or anything," Cinder cut in. "But what are you doing here? Shouldn't a Pokémon as powerful as yourself be hiding? And not randomly introducing yourself to people you've never met? And also, aren't you supposed to be green?"

            "So kind, fretting over me!" Celebi giggled. "But you don't need to do anything of the sort. No one can catch me!"

            Cinder's mouth closed to a straight line. Her eyes moved from the Time Traveler to me, not seeming to know what to say.

            "Sorry if this is a bit strange to you two," Celebi said, finally noticing the awkward situation Cinder was in. "But allow me to clear everything up! I live here in Dusk Forest, for starters. I've actually been watching you since you came in..." Celebi looked at me and then averted her eyes. I hoped the dull fog hid the fact that my face was getting warm.

            Celebi continued, "And then I heard talk about the Time Gears," At this, I flashed Cinder a look. Perhaps we should be careful about where we talk about our mission. "I've heard about attempts to collect the Time Gears to change the planet's paralysis. You two aren't actually attempting that, are you?"

            Cinder looked at me, and I nodded. There wasn't any sense in not telling Celebi about what we were doing. It was just a stroke of luck we had found her, and even if we didn't say anything, we would have to do so later when we needed to go back in time.

            "That's what we're doing." I said to her.

            The pink Pokémon's face was a mixture of emotions. At first, she looked elated at what we had said, and then she looked scared. I wondered what was going on inside her head. It was like she knew something that we did not.

            "Well, it looks like you'll probably need my help." Celebi finally said. "You'll have to go back to the past somehow, right? And I'm the only one who can do that, unless you want to go get crummy old Dialga to help you out."

            I was surprised how much Celebi knew about out cause. There must have been others investigating the planet's paralysis before my parents and Cinder and I. Celebi was correct as well. We would need her help sooner or later, and in my opinion, I would prefer the former over the latter.

            "There's no hiding anything from you, is there?" Cinder said, smiling. "You're right, too. We will need your help." She pointed to herself saying, "My name's Cinder, and my partner here is Grovyle. Welcome to the team, I guess!"

            A huge grin spread across Celebi's face. "Oh, that's so great! I'm getting so tired of this darkness. It'd be so great if we could change that!" The pink Pokémon's eyes suddenly widened at the end of her sentence, and she opened her mouth like she wanted to say more, but she didn't. A smile returned to her face, and the thought fled my mind.

   

***

   

            Our new team of three continued on through Dusk Forest. Celebi led the way, floating in the air above Cinder and I. Sparkles floated along behind her.

            "You never did explain why you were pink colored." I said, looking up as she performed acrobatics in the space above us.

            "Oh, I don't really know the answer to that!" Celebi laughed. "I suppose it's just to make me look cuter!"

            I had to smile at that. Thankfully, Celebi didn't seem to see.

            "How much longer to the Southern Jungle?" Cinder complained. She had gotten bored of walking a while after we left the spot where we met Celebi. Currently, she had a thin branch in her hands and was breaking off pieces of it. I agreed that traveling through the same, dull colored forest scenery was getting monotonous, despite my love of the trees.

            "We should be coming up on the jungle any minute now." Celebi said, looking ahead. "Look! Here we are!"

            I noticed the scene around us change drastically. The trees got taller and were thicker around. Bushes had larger leaves, large vines draped down from the branches above, and foliage crowded the path we had been walking on.

            "The Southern Jungle is really big considering how much land it covers," Celebi started to explain. "But it's not wide to travel through. We should be at Boulder Quarry within the hour."

            "Thank goodness!" Cinder raised her hands up into the air with relief.

            Thanks to my evolution, the rogue Pokémon in the Southern Jungle were much easier to defeat than they would have been if I was still a Treecko. In fact, the real trouble with traveling through the jungle wasn't the Pokémon; it was the whole traveling part. The plants were thick, and they stretched over the path we were following. Sometimes when the foliage was particularly bothersome, Cinder even had to slash through it with her sword! I could have gone up into the treetops and easily skipped this whole ordeal, and Celebi could have simply just flown over everything, but we both decided to take the hard way through with Cinder. It was better to stay in a group in this unfamiliar territory.

            I finally began to see a tall rock formation in the distance through the trees. Boulders were piled high on top of one another. The rocky towers dominated the landscape beyond the jungle. As we stepped through the trees, I could see a large, gaping hole in the side of a plateau.

            "Here we are!" Celebi said. "Boulder Quarry! Next stop, the Time Gear!"

            "If it even is here," I muttered. "Want to check on that, Cinder?"

            "Sure," Cinder said. She looked around for a bit before her eyes settled on a rounded rock near the entrance. The girl bent down and picked it up, and I could tell she was braced for what would inevitably follow.

            A moment later, Cinder cried out. Her palm flew to her forehead in an effort to stop the pain.

            "Wha-?" Celebi gasped in panic. "What's- what's going on with her?"

            "She's fine! It's fine!" I reassured her. "Cinder has some special ability. Whenever she touches something in the vicinity of a Time Gear, she has these visions. She can see the past or the future."

            Celebi looked utterly stunned. "Well, that- that's the Dimensional Scream!"

            "What?" I spun around to face her. "You know about it?"

            At that moment, Cinder entered the part of her ability where she stared straight ahead and stopped moving. After a second, she breathed again and fell forward. She woke up just in time to land on her hands and knees.

            "Cinder!" I ran up to her with Celebi following close behind.

            "Ugh," Cinder mumbled, picking herself up. "It's here, guys. The Time Gear's definitely here. I heard-... I heard a voice say, 'It's a Time Gear. I'm here to protect it'. Yeah, something like that."

            "Cinder!" Celebi cried. "You have the Dimensional Scream?"

            "Dimensional what?" Cinder frowned. "What're you saying?"

            "The ability to touch something and see a vision of the past or future!" Celebi explained excitedly. "The Dimensional Scream! That's your ability, correct?"

            "I didn't know it had a name." said Cinder, standing up. "But yeah, that about sums up what I can do. How did you know about it?"

            Celebi's eyes were wide. "It's a rare ability to possess. Very few Pokémon have it, and even fewer humans. It's something Pokémon related to the flow of time have to know about because these select few individuals have a connection with us. I can't believe it, Cinder! I would have never expected to run into one of the few who possess the Dimensional Scream! It's truly something to behold!"

            "Uh, wow." Cinder grinned sheepishly. "I didn't know all that. Grovyle and I have been using it to locate where the Time Gears are in the past. I didn't know it was all that special."   

            "It certainly is!" Celebi exclaimed. "And it surely will help us find the Time Gears. The Dimensional Scream usually only works in places connected to them."

            Cinder nodded. "Okay, team! Let's head off to the Time Gear!"

            The girl turned and started off into the opening in the plateau. I began to follow behind her, until Celebi stopped me, taking hold of my arm.

            "What is it?" I asked.

            "Grovyle, there's another thing about the Dimensional Scream." Celebi looked at me intently before quickly averting her eyes to the ground.

            The pink Pokémon looked back up at me. "The Dimensional Scream requires a trusted partner to be able to work."

            "A trusted-..." My words trailed off. "Why? Why are you telling me this?"

            "It's just that..." Celebi broke off as she started to explain. Her large, green eyes were boring straight into my yellow ones. "If something were to happen between you and Cinder to sever your bond, the Dimensional Scream wouldn't function. I'm just trying to warn you. For Cinder's safety. And yours."

            I nodded. "Thank you, Celebi. I'll make sure nothing happens."

            "Hey! You guys coming or not?" Cinder's voice echoed down the cavern.

            "Right behind you!" I called as Celebi and I continued down into the cave.

            We caught up with Cinder a few moments later. She had been waiting for us, casually leaning on her sword.

            "Gee, what took you two so long?" She asked as we caught up to her. The girl sheathed her sword as she looked us over.

            "Nothing," I said vaguely. "We're here now, so let's go."

            Cinder nodded. "Right."

            As we trekked deeper into the cave of Boulder Quarry, the ability to see progressively depleted. I figured that even without the darkness of the world we lived in, the cave would still be considerably dark. Thankfully, Cinder had a spare Stick. She lit a fire on it like a torch. I was grateful for the light, but it was a bit strange seeing the flame sway about in slow motion.

            Cinder led the way journeyed further down into the darkness. Orange light from the torch bounced off the cave walls and caused the shadows to dance. My footsteps echoed on the rock floors, and I could hear Celebi's wings flapping above me. I could even hear Cinder's breathing.

            "It's too quiet," I whispered, afraid to speak louder. "Something's up."

            "Just what I was thinking." Cinder said. The ring of metal-on-metal reverberated down the cavern as the girl drew her sword.

            And we waited.

            I kept expecting a barrage of attacks to come at us any second. I stood completely still, my body tense. My eyes darted around, looking through the dark for any sign of movement. I wondered if the others could hear my heart thundering. Every beat broke through the silence; it seemed too loud.

            Is this quietness nothing to worry about? I thought, What if we're wrong and there's nothing? What if it's just normal cave silence?

            Then why is every instinct in my body screaming to run?

            All of a sudden, the ground broke away beneath my feet.

 

***


	4. Chapter 3

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Three:

           

“GROVYLE!” I heard Cinder’s scream fading as I fell deeper and deeper.

            I was plunged into darkness so thick, I couldn’t see my own claws if I waved them in front of my face. A sharp pain coursed up my spine when I finally landed.

            “Argh,” I moaned, and then looked up. I could hardly see the hole I had fallen through.

            “CINDER!” I bellowed. “CELEBI!” There was no way to tell if they had heard me.

            There was a sudden scuffling sound behind me, and I whirled around. Was there someone… or something there?

            My fears were answered when a gruff, cackling voice reached out through the darkness.

            “Heh, heh. You must be pretty dumb, coming here.”

            “Wha-!” I gasped. “Who’s there?”

            “You’re the one trespassing and you don’t know whose land you’re trespassing on? Ha! I doubt that!”

            All of a sudden, glowing eyes appeared in the black. I slowly spun around, finding that I had been surrounded. Their icy-blue color was all I could see.

            “You’re here to take our land, aren’t you!” the voice rang out again, echoing on the cave walls. “Anyone who comes here, trespassing on our territory only wants to take it!”

            “No, that’s not-!” I was cut off before I had the chance to explain.

            “Don’t try talking your way out of it, you know it’s true!” I located the voice to be coming from higher than the many pairs of eyes that I was surrounded by. I looked up to see a final pair of ice-blue eyes appear a few feet above me. Whatever it was that was talking was bigger than I was; it was probably the leader.

            I saw the thin pupils of the tallest pair of eyes look around at its fellows. “They all know what happens to those who trespass here.” A maniacal laugh escaped the mouth of whatever was talking to me. “But do you?”

            I had a feeling I was about to find out, and that I was not going to like it.

           

***

            Something slammed into me. Hard.

            I was knocked to the ground, and before I even had the chance to get up, something else crashed into the side of my head so hard my vision blurred.

            _How can I fight something I can’t see?_ I wondered in panic, _There’s so many of them!_

            A strong kick connected with my stomach and I was sent flying against the wall of a cave. Crazed laughter rang out from all around me, and in my dazed state, I couldn’t tell if it came from all my attackers at once, or just the leader.

            Adrenaline coursed through my body and I was able to see a bit better. Half a dozen pairs of icy blue eyes were still surrounding me. The taller one was standing further away. I saw one of my opponent’s eyes start to grow bigger. It was moving in closer to attack again!

            I raised one of my claws up in a last-ditch effort to defend against the oncoming strike. A hard sort of armor came into contact with my claw, but I somehow held it back. A greenish glow appeared where I touched it, and whatever it was that I was touching seemed to cringe in pain. I realized I was feeling stronger, and my head finally cleared enough to let me remember that I could use my Absorb move.

            The creature that had charged at me kicked me once more, sapping all the strength that I had regained from my Absorb. It backed away and another cry of laughter came from higher up. “That’s all you got? One puny Absorb? Ha! You’re weaker than we thought! You should have never tried to take our territory, being as weak as you are! Well, fortunately for us, you’ll still never get the chance!”

            Deep growls came from the beasts that surrounded me. I saw their eyes come closer together, closing me in against the wall. They were getting ready for something big.

            I braced myself as a scream rose from deep in my throat. _I am going to die. I am going to-_

            A bright light suddenly surged out of nowhere. I shielded my eyes. When the light faded, what I saw gave me a chance of actually getting out of this alive.

            Cinder and Celebi had somehow appeared right in front of me!

            Cinder had her sword braced out in front of her, ready to fight. Celebi looked around and finally saw me near the ground behind them.

            “Grovyle!” she gasped. “Are you alright?”

            “Am now." I managed to smile, but I didn’t know if she could see through the darkness.

            The vicious roar of the leader broke through the silence. “THEY’RE ALL COMING TO STEAL OUR LAND! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? INTRUDERS! WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?” Another roar seemed to vibrate the cave walls around us.

            “In-tru-da window.” Cinder said jokingly.

            The surrounding blue-eyed attackers appeared to back up with the presence of new opponents to fight. I painfully hauled myself up and limped over to where my friends had appeared.

            “How did you guys get here?” I asked through gritted teeth.

            “I’ll explain in just a sec.” Cinder said as she turned to Celebi. “Now, Celebi!”

            “Time to travel!” the pink Pokémon chirped.

            A bright light enveloped us and I squeezed my eyes shut. There was a high pitched ringing sound… and then silence.

            When I opened my eyes, I found that the icy-blue eyed Pokémon had moved somehow. Or had we?

            “What happened?” I asked, now that we were out of danger.

            “Later,” Cinder said. She looked me in the eyes. “Are you okay?”

            “I’m f-!” I started to say, but pain suddenly shot through my body, and it made me gasp loudly and cringe, falling to the ground.

            “You are not fine!” Cinder cried. She knelt down next to me and helped to lean me back against the wall of the cave. Celebi floated down closer and looked on with worried eyes.

            Cinder shared the Time Traveler’s look. “What did they do to you?” she gasped, glancing back at me.

            I was no longer going on that adrenaline kick, and weariness crept up on me as my eyelids drooped. “They thought… I was invading their territory. Thought I wanted to take it. I was… kicked and slammed into… and flew into a wall…”

            Lines of worry appeared across Cinder’s forehead. I felt something gentle touch me. Looking up tiredly, I could see Celebi reaching out with her small hand, checking me over for broken bones. I was too tired to hide the color coming to my cheeks as she touched my skin. I hoped she didn’t notice.

            “I don’t think anything’s broken.” Celebi said finally. “But you’re gonna have some pretty nasty bruises. I’m no medical expert, though. So I can’t be sure.”

            I blearily nodded my thanks.

            “I’m sure you’ll feel better after a bit of rest.” Cinder reasoned. “We have been going all day. We could all use a good rest.”

             Before I could even agree, tiredness overcame me and I was dead asleep in seconds.

 

***

 

            I was awakened a few hours later, though it had only seemed like a few minutes to me.

            “Come on, Grovyle. We gotta keep moving.” Cinder said, lightly shaking my shoulder. “The sooner we get moving, the sooner we find the Time Gear!”

            Cinder had been right. I did feel better after resting. Though I would have liked to sleep a bit more, I forced myself to get up as my sore muscles screamed in protest.

            “Alright then,” I said. “Let’s get going.”

            My human friend led the way as I followed with Celebi behind me. Cinder brandished another torch out in front of her, and its slow-moving flame danced sluggishly and caused odd shadows to pop up around us on the walls of the cave tunnel we were heading down.

            Finally, after walking for a while, the path opened up to a larger clearing. We all stepped out into the middle of the room and looked about.

            The new cave walls were a dark, dull purple in color. Glancing up, I could see the ceiling extended a good ways above Cinder’s head. Ahead of us, there were two openings on the right and left of the furthest wall of the cave. Darkness clouded the view into each of the caves, so I couldn’t see where either led.

            “Well…” Cinder drew out the word as she walked into the center of the room, between the two tunnel entrances. “Looks like we have a choice to make, team. Right or left?”

            “That’s it?” I asked, confused. “We’re just going to choose a path to follow? What if one’s a dead end! Or if it ends straight off a cliff?”

            “That would basically be the same thing, right?” Cinder surmised.

            I frowned and didn’t answer.

            Cinder grinned and went on. “Anyway, Grovyle, if that happens, we’ll just go back and chose the other path! It’s as simple as that. One of these has to be the way forward, right?”

            I sighed before finally agreeing with her.

            “Hm,” Celebi mumbled as she floated up next to me. “Since you put it like that, why don’t we put it up to chance? It’ll make it easier.”

            She drifted down and pulled open the pouch I had slung about my shoulder. The pink Pokémon rummaged around inside until she found what she was looking for and brought it out. A gold-colored coin glistened in her grasp.

            “Here we go! Heads we go left, tails we go right!” she flipped the Poké Dollar coin up in the air and caught it before it hit the ground. Celebi slapped it down on the back of her hand and lifted the other one to reveal the result.

            “Heads it is!” she proclaimed, showing off the surface of the coin. “So left we go!”

            Cinder and I both agreed with her logic, so our team headed off into the maw of the tunnel on the left.

            The left tunnel wound about haphazardly. It thinned out so much that we had to walk through single-file in some places further on throughout the long cavern. Cinder, Celebi, and I continued on going through the cave, following its twists and turns. There was only one path, lined with dull-colored crystals that may have been green in the past. Finally, the tunnel began to get lighter as we began to reach the exit.

            Or so we thought.

            “What?” Cinder exclaimed.

            Celebi and I followed her out into the clearing. It appeared that we were right where we started! Back in the cave with left and right tunnels!

            “But how did that happen?” I wondered aloud. “How are we back where we started?”

            “And out through the same way we came in?” Celebi added, looking back at where we had just exited.

            “There was only one way we were going the whole time.” Cinder looked thoughtful. “So we must have gone the wrong way! The right tunnel has to be the right way!”

            “Should’ve known,” I muttered, flashing Cinder a cunning grin. “It is the _right_ way to go, after all.”

            “Don’t go all cocky on me!” Cinder scoffed. “It was Celebi’s idea to flip a coin!”

            “Alright, alright.” Celebi flapped up in between us. “So we picked the wrong way to go first. At least we know the other way will surely be the correct one, right? I guess it’s better that we did that, ‘cause we know for sure now!”

             As usual, Celebi’s logic was profound, and we agreed to travel down the tunnel on the right.

            Like before with the other tunnel, the right tunnel swerved and twisted around randomly. It got higher in some places and so low in others that Cinder had to duck down to keep moving. The cave walls moved in so close together at one part of the tunnel, that we had to step sideways around it to fit thinly through the gap in the wall.

            I looked around as we walked. This cavern was very similar to the last one. The cave walls were a dark, grayish color that might have once been blue. Sparse light filtered in from up ahead and I cried out, “Look! We’ve made it! The Time Gear must be up ahead!”

            I ran in front of the other two members of our little team, eager to get to the treasure.

            But again, we were stunned.

            We were back where we started.

            Again.

            “How the-!” Cinder gaped as she followed me out into the clearing, looking around at the room we were in once more.

            “It doesn’t make sense!” Celebi agreed. “If one way didn’t lead forward, the other definitely should! But this happening…” she looked back and forth between the two left-and-right entrances. “This just doesn’t make sense!” she exclaimed again.

            “Maybe there’s some trick to it.” I thought aloud.

            “Yeah!” Cinder made a snapping noise with her fingers. “That has to be it! We have to solve a puzzle or something to move on! I think Mystery Dungeons sometimes have things like this when they’re protecting a treasure.”

             “So let’s go over what we have.” She walked into the middle of the clearing between the two tunnels. “There’s two tunnels here. Left and right. Each of them, when followed on the only path they present, lead back exactly to where we started, and through the opening that it was entered through. So these obviously cannot be the way forward.”

            “But if there are only these two tunnels,” I pointed out, “How can these not be the only way to move on?”

            Celebi looked thoughtful. “Why don’t you try your Dimensional Scream, Cinder? Maybe it’ll give us a hint as to where to go.”

            Cinder shrugged and agreed with her. She looked around before picking up a flat, circular stone. And we all waited.

            Just as I was about to ask, Cinder yelped in pain and groped for her head.

            “I will never get used to that.” I muttered to Celebi. “She looks like she’s in so much pain, but we can’t do anything to help.” Celebi silently nodded her agreement.

            My human friend’s eyes went wide open and she stood up straight and still. A moment later, she fell forward, barely catching herself before hitting the ground.

            I came up to her and asked, “What did you see?”

            “It was only a voice again,” Cinder explained. “From the past. Someone said something like, ‘What if these entrances are the only visible ones?’ I don’t know what that could-!”

            She suddenly pulled herself up with a gasp. “That’s it!”

            “What?” Has she figured something out? I wondered. “What’s it?”

            “Okay,” Cinder held up her hands. “Don’t look at me like I’m crazy, but I think there has to be a hidden entrance somewhere in here. Like… an invisible door or something!”

            “You’re crazy.” I said to her nonchalantly.

             “Come on!” the girl threw her head back in exasperation. “Don’t you think we should just try? I mean…” she fumbled for words. “If I’m right then… we’ll be closer to finding the Time Gear and saving the world and everything! And if I’m not, then we’re still stuck here; so close to one piece of our goal, but with no way to get there. Don’t you think we should at least try?”

            I sighed, realizing she was right, no matter how crazy an invisible entrance sounded. “Alright. Let’s look for this hidden entrance.”

            We spread out around the small room. “What is a non-visible way forward even supposed to look like?” Celebi speculated while flying up close to the ceiling.

            “I don’t think it’s supposed to look like anything.” Cinder explained while feeling along a wall. “It’s hidden, remember? So maybe it just looks like a normal wall.”

            Listening to Cinder’s words, I walked up to the back wall between the two tunnels. Maybe…

            I slowly brought my claw up against the cavern wall. It felt cool like a rock for a second and then-

            VROOORP!

            A sound echoed through the cave along with a burst of blue light.

            “What was that?” Cinder said rushing over.

            “Guys,” I said, smiling and turning to face them. “I think I found it.”

            My claw had gone through the wall.

 

***


	5. Chapter 4

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Four:

 

            VROOORP! VROOORP! VROOOOORP!

            Cinder, Celebi, and I each stepped through the wall, causing a grinding sound to echo about the cavern behind us. The sensation of going through an invisible wall felt like something huge was stretching my body into a long, thin line. It lasted for a moment and then ended abruptly as we all reappeared onto the other side.

            "Well that was probably the strangest thing I have ever done in my life." Cinder stated as she frowned.

            I ignored the comment and motioned for the others to follow me as we forged ahead. As we walked forward, the scenery changed. Lighter grey stone surrounded us, extending high up above, forming a tall, echoing chamber. Odd formations of stone grew out of ceiling, making sharp points where drops of moisture that had been falling from them were frozen in midair. Other spikes of rock came out of the ground and some fused completely together with ones from the top to become like trunks of trees.  

            We passed a circular clearing at the end of the path we had been walking on. Small, pointed stones like teeth surrounded the empty space. Everywhere, clear, water that had once been bright blue was pierced by tall, conical rocks. As we went through, I noticed a square-shaped indentation in the ground. Something must have there in the past, and for a long time. Whatever it had been, it was gone now.  

            The clearing narrowed out into another path as we forged ahead.

            "Look at that!" Cinder yelled out suddenly. "It seems like the path ends up ahead! We must be close! Come on!"

            Cinder and I broke into a run and Celebi floated along above us. Finally, it had seemed that we'd came to the end of the dungeon! Was this where the Time Gear was?

            My human friend stopped abruptly at the end of the passage. I came up behind her and could feel the beats from Celebi's wings as she hovered above my head.

            In front of us, just like in Treeshroud Forest, was a pattern of dull, greenish light. Floating in the middle, again like before, was a six-sided grey stone.

            Celebi circled around in the air around the floating rock. She looked at it closely, blinking in wonder.

            "This is a Gone Pebble." the Time Traveler said finally.

            "A what?" Cinder and I said simultaneously.

            Celebi turned back towards us. "A Gone Pebble. They're found here in this time wherever a Time Gear was in the past."

            "I knew it!" shouted Cinder, punching the air. "I knew I was right!"

            "Gone Pebbles were found much more commonly in the past," Celebi started to explain. "When Temporal Tower fell, they started to disappear at the same time as the Time Gears did, until only a few remained."

            Celebi seemed to get a far-off look as she glanced between us an the floating, hexagonal rock. "These Pebbles had a power in the past, and it's believed that for that reason, they took the place of Time Gears in our world. They don't control time like Time Gears did in the past; they only sort of... hold a place for where a Time Gear used to be. Some Pokemon even believe that they are what was left over whenever whatever entity that made the Time Gears was finished making them. See," she said, pointing back to the hovering stone, "It's shape is exactly like the middle of a Time Gear."

            What Celebi had just explained was racing around in my head. "You said that these... Gone Pebbles had a power in the past," I said. "What did they do?"

            Celebi turned towards me. "When someone held a Gone Pebble, it brought back an emotional memory. A family member, a past love, a lost friend... No one really knew _why_ the Gone Pebbles did this or how. It just happened, and was accepted-"

            As she was speaking, I felt like I had been holding a Gone Pebble myself. We were now one step closer to our goal. A goal that my parents tried to reach, but now would never be able to. Sad, horrible memories resurfaced and I tried to force them away. _Stop it. Forget it, forget it._ I nodded my head to stop her from talking.

            Cinder walked up to the end of the pathway. She reached up and took the stone. A moment later, the Dimensional Scream started and Cinder grunted and fell forward. Seconds later, she grabbed her head and stood up.

            "Right again, guys." my human friend said. "The Time Gear was here, exactly as we thought."

            The Gone Pebble crumbled in her hand as she walked back over. Cinder pulled the map out of her bag and unrolled it. With a stick of charcoal, she drew a circle around the spot that showed Boulder Quarry. Treeshroud Forest was already marked.

            "Alright, team," Cinder sat down, beckoning us closer, . "Where to next?"   

            Celebi looked at the map. After a few moments, she spoke, "Well, we have a few options."

            She pointed to a desert in the northwest region of the map. "There's the Northern Desert," she then motioned towards a forest the southeastern corner, "Foggy Forest," finally, she pointed at a rocky picture in the north centre, "And Crystal Cave. These are the locations where we'll find the last three Time Gears."

            "How did you know all that?" Cinder asked. She then explained how we had figured out how to go to Treeshroud Forest a few days ago.

            "I've sort of just knew where they were forever." Celebi replied. "I guess it's something Time Travelers have to know."

            I didn't say the thought that came to my mind and filled me with dread: _Then Dialga knows where they are too._ Instead, I said a different idea that had came to me at the same time:

            "If you've known where they are this whole time, why haven't you gone and collected the Time Gears a long time ago?" my voice rose as I continued, angrier, "You could have stopped this darkness right when it started! It could have been _real_ easy for you too!" I snarled, up near Celebi's face. Then, I noticed that Cinder had taken a few steps back. Something in the back of my mind told me to stop, but I couldn't. The words poured out of my mouth. All the anger I had been holding in. Everything that had happened to me. All the guilt, the sorrow. All of it was put into my words. "You could have just teleported right to all of them! What's the deal?"

            Celebi stared at me, wide-eyed with shock. Her turquoise-green eyes were huge like stars. I saw my refection, smaller, in them. I looked... _terrifying._

I tried to say something to take it all back, but I couldn't. My voice froze. My mind told my mouth to speak, but it wouldn't obey. _I had looked terrifying. Horrible! Like... like a monster._

No! I didn't want to be like that! So many other Pokemon turned into corrupted versions of themselves because of this darkness. Not me too! No, I wouldn't let it happen.

            I was not going to become Dialga.

            I was not a monster.

            Turning back towards Celebi, I saw myself again, reflected in her eyes, and my disposition had changed. _Scared._

_I was scared of myself. Scared of what I could become._

            "I'm sor-" I started to say, but the Time Traveler sighed, cutting me off. I frowned, startled.

            "No, it's okay." Celebi shook her head. "This darkness is angering everybody, and you're right, too. I could have stopped this a long time ago. But I-... I- I couldn't."

            "Why not?" Cinder's voice shook as she spoke. She glanced towards me, making sure I wasn't going to burst out again. She had backed away from me, scared too. But not scared of me, I think. Scared _for_ me. She didn't want to see me change into something horrible.

_I'm sorry._

The words never came out of my mouth.

            Celebi struggled to answer Cinder's question. "I-I I just couldn't!" the pink Pokemon turned away, "I'm sorry. I... can't tell you why. I just couldn't collect the Time Gears myself." she spun back towards us. "So, where are we going next? For the next Time Gear?"

            The events that had just transpired over the last moments played themselves over in my head as Cinder went to look at the map with Celebi. There were so many things I could have said differently. But Celebi wasn't angry! Why? If our roles had been switched, I would have certainly yelled right back. I would have felt terrible about it afterwards, but why didn't Celebi? And my original question hadn't even been answered either. _Why did Celebi not collect the Time Gears before if she could have gotten them so easily? And what was she so scared of?_

            Yes, that was it. It was definitely fear. I was sure of it. But not of me. Celebi sounded that way when she was _explaining_ why she couldn't have fulfilled my request. Thinking about this, I still found myself at square one:

            _Why?_

Asking myself these questions wouldn't help them get answered, so I went over to the map with Cinder and Celebi.

            "Foggy Forest seems like a good place to go next." Cinder said, pointing towards the image on the map. As she touched the map, I waited for her to double over in pain with the Dimensional Scream. It happened last time she had touched the map. I waited a second more as Cinder continued talking. "It's closest to Boulder Quarry. That's where we should go, I think." My human friend had kept speaking, her speech unbroken by gasps or falling forward. I guess she wasn't going to have an episode.

            My thoughts went back to what Celebi had said at the entrance of the cave. _No, of course not. My outburst earlier couldn't have severed our bond. We're still partners! We're definitely still partners._

_Right?_

            "Any one of them is fine with me," I said, hoping the others hadn't noticed my hesitation, "But that seems like the most logical idea, Cinder."

            "So," Celebi stated, rolling up the map and floating over to put it in Cinder's bag, "To Foggy Forest we go, then!" she thought for a moment, "Hm, it'll take a while, especially crossing the mountains, but we should get there in about four days time if we go quickly."

            Cinder and I nodded in agreement, and we headed out of the limestone cavern.

 

***

 

            If everything hadn't been dark in this time, I would have blinked in the bright sunlight while coming out of the cave entrance of Boulder Quarry. But there was only a dull, dark grey sky outside when we exited, as usual, so there was no unusual amount of blinking involved.

            My team of three headed west back into the Southern Jungle. Walking through the foliage, I started looking around. The grey leaves on the trees and the dull-colored trunks passed us by as we continued. Cinder was leading the way, marching over fallen logs and rocks. Celebi floated behind her, leaving a trail of sparkles that flashed and disappeared as she moved ahead. I followed behind the Time Traveler.

            Suddenly, a bush to my left behind me rustled. I spun around to look at it, but it stopped. There was nothing there.

            _It was just the wind._ I thought, and kept walking.

            Moments later, from up above, a leaf tumbled down in front of my face. Looking up, again, I saw nothing that could have disturbed the trees.

            _The wind again._ I assured myself. _It's just the-_

            I stopped myself in mid-thought.

            There was no wind.

            There was _never_ any wind.

            "Guys!" I yelled, but it was too late.

            _"Weh-heh-heh!"_

            Dark shapes burst out from every bush and tree. Cinder hardly had time to unsheathe her sword before she was mobbed by dark purple Pokemon. Celebi tried to fly upwards higher, but the attackers forced her down.      

            _What are Sableye doing here?_ I thought, panicking. The last time I had seen the crystal-eyed monsters was...

            Forcing the thought out of my head, I tried to focus. I wasn't going to let anything distract me.

            I felt a sudden sharp pain in my shoulder. Turning my head, I could see one of the dark purple Sableye clinging to my back, digging its claws into my flesh. I struggled to get a good hit on it; it was in an awkward position that I couldn't hardly reach.

            _"Weh-heh-heh!"_ my assailant's claws raked down my skin, drawing bloody cuts. My vision went white with pain. It was in those few moments that I came up with an idea.

            I mustered up all my remaining strength and jumped into the air. The Sableye still clung to my back. Twisting my body in mid-air, I positioned myself in the way I wanted to. Luckily, my attacker didn't mess up my plan too much; it was actually part of it!

            Falling back to earth, I landed with a grunt on my back. The Sableye broke my fall, crushed under the impact. I got up quickly before it could move, hit it's head with a quick Pound attack, and it was knocked out.

            My friends had been battling Sableye that whole time as well. Cinder was sending the purple Pokemon flying with her sword; nothing could get near her. Looking at Celebi, I realized that I had never seen her fight before. And boy, did she fight.

            The Time Traveler had some sort of telekinetic power. She surrounded rocks with blue light, lifting them up in the air and slamming them down on those attacking. And she took leaves from the trees, sharpened to points, and used the same light to send them hurtling at opponents like knives. Celebi noticed me watching, and she smiled right before crushing a rock straight into a Sableye's face.

            It was truly something to behold.

            I was forced back into the fight when a Sableye flew at me, claws out, screeching a high-pitched scream that echoed through the jungle. The only thought to come to my mind in those few seconds was, _Why hadn't I noticed this thing earlier? You could probably hear it a mile away._

I dodged the upcoming attack, sending the screeching Sableye face-first into a tree. It slammed into it with a _THUNK!_ and slid down, finally landing in a bush. I thought I actually heard a moan coming from it, and it didn't seem like it wanted to get up again.

            Cinder seemed to be having trouble, so I leapt over to where she was, joining her fight. We stood back-to-back, just like my parents had, and fended off the assailants.

            "You have any idea what's going on?" Cinder shouted to me, swinging her sword all the while.

            "How should I know?" I yelled back. "I'm just as confused as you!"

            The fight went on like this for a while longer. Every time our team of three seemed to have the upper hand, three more Sableye jumped out of the trees for ever one we knocked out. We couldn't keep our lead for much longer.

            I scanned through the sea of enemies, searching for a way out. Maybe we couldn't win this; maybe we could run.

            But instead of seeing a way out, I saw something that was the exact opposite.

            Something that would assure that we _never_ got out.

            A floating red ball of light through the trees.

            Leaving Cinder alone, I went towards it. _It couldn't be the same one that..._

I was hardly a foot away when it materialized out of the bushes and advanced at me. At that second, I realized I was right. It wasn't the same skull-faced Pokemon that had been at the stakes.

            But at the same time, it was.

            It had evolved too.

            The floating ball of red light bounced around in the Pokemon's head as it floated towards me, slowly. It was no longer just a small, floating head. It was taller and dark grey with thin, black lines horizontally across it's whole body. Lighter grey whisps trailed behind it and on top of its head. The short stubs the skull-body had were now full-fledged hands with fingers thicker than Cinder's.

            Like before, I was filled with fear when I looked at this Pokemon, as were the Sableye; backing away from its path. But this time, the fear wasn't irrational. I was legitimately scared of this Pokemon. Of what it did. Of what it _could_ do.

            Then, it spoke. And it said something I would have never expected.

            With a loud, deep voice it commanded, "Fall back."

            At this order, the Sableye stopped attacking. They moved away from Cinder and Celebi, leaving my friends confused at their sudden disappearance. In mere moments, they were all gone. Their only trace was a scuffed-up battlefield.

"What?" was the only word that came out of my mouth. I looked around at my friends for answers, but they had none.

            "They just... attack and leave?" I continued. "What was the point of that? How did they even find us?"

            "I don't know..." Celebi said. "That Dusclops came in at the end and just ordered them away... I honestly don't know what just happened."

            _Dusclops,_ I thought, _So that's what it's called._

            Suddenly, there was rustle in the bushes. Cinder, Celebi, and I braced ourselves for another attack. But none came. Instead, a trembling voice spoke out:

            "H-hello? Are-... are they gone?"

            I gave Celebi a confused look, and she motioned for me to speak back to whatever was talking.

            "Um, if you mean the Sableye, then... yeah, they're gone."

            "Oh, good." the voice seemed relieved.

            The bushes shook again, and another Pokemon walked out into the clearing. It was one I hadn't seen before. It was bright green, with lighter features. The Pokemon was hunched over in fright, but I suspected that when it stood up, it was about two feet taller than I was. Cinder was just barely taller than it. Its most striking feature though, was its two, huge claws, extending from the tips of its arms to almost touching the ground. Small wings were also pressed up against its back.

            "Who are you?" Celebi asked, floating up closer. "Do you live here?"

            The Pokemon hesitated, probably judging whether Celebi was safe or not. "I- My name's Trennivon. T- Trennivon the Scyther. I- I live here in the Southern Jungle."

            "Well, that's great." I said sarcastically before Celebi gave me a look. I went back on my statement saying, "Uh, I mean... is there anything you needed?"

            Trennivon was silent, shuffling his feet and clacking his claws together. "I- I heard you earlier when you came through the first time. I kind of wanted... I kind of wanted to come along and help with your mission... if that's- if that's okay with you."

            I looked back at Cinder to remind her once again for us to not talk about what we were doing out in public, but was stopped before I could say anything.

            My human friend was leaning heavily on her sword, her breath coming in short bursts. She was holding her arm near a place on her stomach, and the area around was growing red with blood. Cinder's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell forward.

 

***


	6. Chapter 5

__

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Five: 

 

            "CINDER!"

            The scream of panic had hardly left my lips as I rushed over to my friend. She was no longer moving, curled up around the wound on her stomach. My claw hovered over her body, afraid to touch her.

            "Cinder..." my vision was going blurry. I couldn't focus. I didn't even notice when Celebi came up behind me. The Time Traveler's eyes darted left and right in alarm.  

            "What do we do?" I cried, my voice rising.

            Celebi leaned in closer to Cinder. A moment passed and she said, "She's breathing!"

            I breathed a sigh of relief. But it wan't over yet. "But still, what do we do? Are human wounds like a Pokemon's?"

            The pink Pokemon must have not known the answer, for she did not say anything. In the silence, I noticed that Trennnivon had walked up closer as well. He surveyed the scene and then spoke.

            "You have to do something to stop the bleeding."

            In my panic, I had forgotten this simple rule! I'm sure at some point my parents had even told me this survival tip. I had been so worried about Cinder, my mind had gone blank! Nodding my thanks at Trennivon, I quickly grabbed a Scarf from Cinder's bag. I tore away some of the fabric that Cinder was wearing around her midsection to see the wound more clearly. The gash wasn't incredibly deep, but the area around it was deep red with blood. I tried not to think of where I had last seen that color, and started pressing the Scarf forcefully onto the gaping gash on Cinder's stomach.

            Once the bleeding had stopped, I turned back to Trennivon. "Alright, you seem to know a bit about this. What do you suggest we do next?"

            "Bind the wound," the Syther said, pointing with one of his long claws. "And then we have to find some way to wake her up. If we don't, the loss of blood might keep her knocked out, and she may not wake up."

            _Something to wake her up..._ I was at a loss. What could wake someone up after they get knocked out?

            Wait! There _was_ something that could revive someone who had been knocked out! Cinder had even told me about them!

            Celebi had been tying some more Scarves together around Cinder when I yelled out "Reviver Seeds!"

            I rooted around in my pouch and pulled out a small, light brown Seed with green and white markings.

            "That'll work." Trennivon stated, nodding once.

            The Scyther's large claws couldn't hold the small Seed without dropping it, so I knelt down next to my human friend, the Reviver Seed in my grasp. I opened Cinder's mouth and forced the Seed down her throat.

            There was total silence when I stepped back. I was holding my breath and could tell Celebi was as well.

            Seconds ticked by, but they felt like hours. Suddenly, Cinders's body shook. A small cough escaped her lips. Then another. And another. Cinder took in a huge breath of air and her eyes opened wide.

            "Cinder!" Celebi and I both rushed over to her as she continued to cough.

             "Oh, hey guys," Cinder said, waving at us as she coughed once more. She then cringed and grabbed at her stomach. "Ow! Geez, what happened?"

            "One of the Sableye must have got you with their claws." Celebi guessed. "You lost a lot of blood, and if it weren't for Trennivon here," she gestured to the Scyther, who was averting his eyes to the ground and awkwardly clacking his claws together, "you probably wouldn't have made it."

            Cinder managed a tired but still impressed look. "Well, thanks Trenton. I don't think these two," she motioned towards Celebi and I by nodding her head, "could have got on with out me."

            "I- it's Trennivon." the Scyther stuttered, correcting her. "N- not Trenton."

            "Whatev- ah!" Cinder wasn't able to finish as she grabbed her stomach in pain.

            "Oh! Try not to move so much!" Trennivon said, reaching out to steady the girl, careful not to get too close with his claws. "I'll go find some berries that might make you feel better." he seemed to stop and hesitate before frowning. "I- I actually don't know if they'll work on.. humans though."

            "Just- just do what you can," Cinder said, her eyes drooping. "I'm gonna-" her statement was finished by snores as she laid down on the floor.

            "We have been up for a long time." Celebi said, nodding towards Cinder. The girl had fallen asleep right where she had been sitting up only seconds earlier. "I think it'd be a good idea for all of us to get some rest."

 

***

 

            Trennnivon came back a while later with some Oran Berries. He mashed them up and applied the mixture to Cinder's gash as a poultice. Celebi then told him that we were setting up camp here for what counted for night and that he could get some sleep. The Scyther obligated by going to the edge of the clearing and curling up to rest among the roots of a large tree.

            I climbed up into the branches of another tree on the opposite side of the clearing. Looking down, I could see that Cinder had not moved at all. Her chest rose and fell with each sleeping breath.

            _"I don't think these two could have got on without me."_ Cinder's words from earlier played themselves in my mind. I crossed my arms behind my head and leaned back against the tree trunk. _She was right._ I thought, _Celebi and I definitely couldn't get on without Cinder. Our whole mission would be impossible without her._

 _No, it wouldn't_. I took that thought back. _Celebi knows where all the Time Gears are. Even without Cinder, we'd still be able to collect them._

            Not that I would ever want to do this thing without Cinder. I can't believe I almost didn't want her to come when we first met!

            _But still... what was happening with Celebi back in the limestone cavern after we got the Gone Pebble?_

I leaned forward and looked around the trunk of the tree I was lying in. Cinder was still sleeping on the ground. I tried to locate Trennivon, but found that he was missing. The spot where he had been sleeping was empty.

            _Probably getting more Oran Berries for Cinder,_ I guessed.

            _But we have Oran Berries,_ I remembered, _I saw Cinder packing them back at the Guild._ I shrugged, thinking that perhaps he didn't want to be rude in asking if we had any. What a strange Pokemon; so shy.

            It was also quite strange how the Scyther had shown up right after the battle. And how he had known exactly what to do to help Cinder. I suppose that Pokemon living in the jungle have to be prepared for anything.

            I looked around once more to try and find what I had actually got up to see in the first place, but just like Trennivon, Celebi was nowhere to be seen.

              I began to turn back around to ponder this, when a face popped up right in front of my eyes.

            "Ah-!" my yelp was cut off by Celebi clamping her hand onto my mouth.

            "Shhh!" the Time Traveler put a finger on her lips with her other hand. She whispered, "You'll wake up Cinder!"

            I nodded and she removed her hand. "Can't sleep?" Celebi asked.

            "Not so much," I replied. "How'd you know?"

            "I just knew," she smiled.

            _Oh, her smile._ "No, really." I challenged. "Were you... spying on me?"

            Celebi's light pink complexion turned bright red. "N-n- no! No!" she sputtered, "Of course not, my dear-" she stopped suddenly, eyes wide, and her face growing slightly redder.

            I could hardly believe what I just heard. Or, at least, what I thought I heard. "Did-... did you just call me... 'my dear'?"

            I didn't think Celebi's eyes could have gotten any wider. She didn't say anything, and then flashed me a small grin. The Time Traveler then started to laugh, and I couldn't help myself but join in. Our quiet laughter filled the treetops until Celebi stifled her giggles and motioned for me to do the same in fear of waking Cinder.

            _If only things could stay this way._ I thought, _If only the world didn't need saving. Things would be so much better. No one would live in fear of becoming something terrible; corrupt.._

Celebi had settled onto the branch I was sitting on. She looked towards me, her turquoise eyes huge, even in the sparse light. I saw myself reflected in them, but I didn't look the same as I had back in Boulder Quarry. When I had almost become... a monster.

            I didn't want to look that way ever again.

            "I'm... sorry," I sighed, finally.

            "For what?" asked Celebi, confusedly.

            I looked down. "For earlier... in the limestone cavern. I got angry and yelled at you. I shouldn't have done that. It's just-"

            "I know," Celebi hung her head. "I completely understand why you would be mad." she looked back up at me, "But... you were right. You were _so_ right." the Time Traveler put her head in her hands. "I could have gotten the Time Gears a long time ago. But I-... I-"

            "I get it." I cut her off, "I understand that you wouldn't do it. It's-"

            "It's not okay!" Celebi spun back towards me, tears in her eyes. "And you _don't_ understand! It's not that I _wouldn't_ collect the Time Gears, it's that I _couldn't!_ "

            I was about to ask why when Celebi continued. "I- I've been keeping something from you... something that I should have told you straight when we met. Right when you told me about your mission..." she trailed off.

            "What is it?" I asked gently.

            Celebi took a deep breath, as if what she was about to say held the weight of the world on her shoulders. "If-... if you change the past... you... disappear."    

            It was a few seconds before I could speak. The words the Time traveler had said made no sense! "What?" I sputtered, perplexed. "What in the world do you mean?"

            "I mean..." tears were streaming down the pink Pokemon's face. I wanted so much to softly wipe them away. "If you change the past... set the Time Gears in Temporal Tower before it crumbles... you'd stop this future from ever happening. And if this future never exists... then neither will anyone living in it."

            I was stunned. Again, at loss for words. Unable to speak, I just stared at her, mouth agape.

            "I... understand if you don't want to do this anymore." Celebi sniffed and wiped a tear away. "It's stopped others."

            _Yes... it stopped others.. but-..._ "It didn't stop my parents." I said, "They must have known the risks."

            "How could anyone be so selfless?" Celebi whispered, "To give up their own life for a future they wouldn't even exist in?"

            "Because..." I thought back to what my mother had told me countless times. Only now, with Celebi helping to put all the pieces together, did it make sense. "It doesn't really matter, if, in the end, you have to disappear. Because it's not important. What truly matters is what you _do."_

She met my eyes, and I was filled with determination. "If I was to live a shining life, it wouldn't matter if I was to disappear in the end. As long as what I did carried on to the future. If what I accomplished made the world better for everyone that came after me. _That_ is what's important, Celebi."

            The Time Traveler just stared. It took a while for her to find her voice. Finally, she said, "I... never... thought about it that way."

            We stayed there, in the arms of the trees, for a while after that. Celebi fell asleep in the branch opposite mine. Tiredly, I looked down to the ground once more, to check on Cinder.

            My human friend was sleeping soundly, but there was another fact that was a bit unnerving.

            Trennivon had not returned.

              

***


	7. Chapter 6

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Six:

 

            Perhaps I had been mistaken, in my sleepless state, about Trennivon's whereabouts. When I woke up a few hours later, the Scyther was exactly where he had been when we had set up camp. I shook my head and the thought fled my mind.

            Jumping down from the tree, I found that Cinder was already awake. She had propped herself up against the trunk of a thick jungle tree and was sitting cross-legged, eating some Berries.

            "Morning," Cinder said, her mouth full.

            I felt it against the point to remind her that it really wasn't morning; the amount of light was exactly the same as it had been right before we camped. It had remained that way all throughout the time we had slept. 

            As I sat down next to Cinder, grabbing an Apple, I realized that she knew nothing about what Celebi and I had talked about previously.

            She didn't know that if we saved the world, we'd disappear.

            I was about to speak, when Trennivon came over to ask about Cinder's wound. I frowned. Guess my speech would have to wait.

            "You also really shouldn't be eating anything." The Scyther said, motioning to the berries in Cinder's hand. "But are you feeling any better?"

            "It still hurts, yeah," Cinder was saying, ignoring the 'no food' comment. "But it's _loads_ better. Probably all thanks to your medical knowledge and Oran Berry... stuff." she made a big show of standing up. Grimacing a bit, she said, "See? Fit as a Kricketune. We could head off right now if we wanted t-"

            Her statement was cut off when she grabbed her midsection in pain and a grunt.

            "Are you sure we should get going so soon?" Celebi asked, floating up to join the conversation. "We could stay in the Southern Jungle for another... 'day', I guess, or two."

            "No! No, it's fine!" Cinder insisted. "I'm all good! As soon as we're packed up, we should head straight for Foggy Forest! I'll be fine!"

            Celebi looked unsure. I turned to Trennivon. "What do you say? Should we get going?"

            "Yes." the Scyther answered with such conviction, it surprised me a bit. A worried look then crossed his face as he mumbled, "Erm, I mean... as long... as long as Cinder's up for it. If we slow our pace, she should be fine crossing the mountains if we rest a few times along the way."

            "See?" Cinder drew out the word, proving her point. "Now, come on! _¡vá_ _monos! allons-y!"_ she stopped, frowning, and then said, "Ehm, I mean... let's go! The third Time Gear awaits!"

 

***

            Our team of four continued our trek through the Southern Jungle after packing up our small amount of supplies.

            Trennivon's long scythe-like claws turned out to be useful in the same way Cinder's sword had been the first time through. Traveling was made easier as he slashed away roots and vines out of our path. In considerably less time than before, we reached Dusk Forest.

            We were all walking along on the forest floor to stay with Cinder. I talked with Trennivon out of boredom, and it just so happened that we had a lot in common.

            The Scyther had a dreamy look on his face. "I remember when I could race through the tops of trees so fast, it felt like flying! You ever feel that, Grovyle? It's amazing, isn't it? If only I could do that again sometime."

            Something about what he said didn't make sense. "What do you mean?" I asked. "We only just left the jungle. You could do the same thing here in this normal forest."

            "Oh, yeah. You're right." Trennivon said, flustered. "What I meant was, that I would like to do that back in Southern Jungle. It just... feels more like home than... Dusk Forest... probably does."

                The Scyther continued talking, most likely still about Southern Jungle, but I had already tuned him out. I was thinking about earlier...

            _Did Trennivon_ really _not return while we were sleeping? No, he must have. I saw him right where he had been when I woke up._

That seemed like the most plausible answer, but something was still nagging in  the back of my mind.

            I just couldn't figure out what it was.

            "So, do you want to?" Trennivon asked a question that broke into my train of thought. I shook my head to clear it and focused on him.

            "Wait, what?" I asked, still confused. "What did you say?"

            "I asked if you wanted to race!" the Scyther repeated, excitedly. "Cinder just told me that you were super fast at jumping in the treetops."

            "You kinda are." Cinder agreed, shouting back from up ahead. "You're always leaving me behind." Celebi was floating along beside her, a few paces in front of Trennivon and I.

            "So, do you want to race?" he asked again. "Just to the edge of Dusk Forest. It'll get us there quicker anyway!"

            Trennivon did have a point. I reasoned that a little race wouldn't hurt; it was a plus that it would even be helping us reach our goal.

            "Alright, deal." I declared, "You're on."

            "Okay..." Trennivon broke into a grin. "GO!"

            Quick as a flash, small wings snapped out of the Scyther's back. He leapt upwards and was off like a shot. Branches creaked and broke as he sped through the trees up above.

            "Oh no you DON'T!" I yelled, laughing. 

            I broke through the branches above me, jumping up and moving the foliage away with my claws. The crashing up ahead began to grow fainter, I could tell that the Bug-Type was moving fast.

            _Well, I'll just have to move faster._  

            Shooting through the treetops, quick as the wind (or at least, how the wind _probably_ was), I found myself feeling a familiar sensation. I was suddenly back in Treeshroud Forest, as a Treecko. My instincts were kicking in. The branches laid themselves out in front of me. As soon as my feet left one, I alighted on another. I knew where to jump. I knew where to land. Falling was out of the equation.

            It was moments like these that we were fighting for. That feeling of euphoria so seldom experienced in this dark world. All Pokemon and humans deserved to feel this way. Happiness so huge, you felt like flying.

            A sudden SNAP! of a twig sent me screeching to a halt. I was still standing on a wide limb, unharmed.

            _That was't me._ I thought, _Trennivon must be behind!_

            I leapt up and resumed jumping through the trees. Branches whipped past my face as I sped by. Then, something told me that I was coming up to a clearing. I crouched on the last bough in sight, getting ready to jump. This all was calculated in a split second. And then, I pushed off-

            And jumped.

            Grass brushed my feet as I landed, skidding to a stop. Surveying the area, I saw that the woods had given way to different terrain, and that I was standing on a plateau overlooking a rocky valley. My line of sight followed the rocks up and up, until I saw something I had only seen once before.

            Mountains.

            The other time I saw mountains was back wen Cinder and I first began our adventure. I had seen Mt. Bristle, huge, pointed peaks rising up into the clouds. But these mountains were different. The huge rock formations got bigger and bigger the further eastward they marched. Far out on the horizon, the tallest peak loomed. The snow-capped top, curved like a claw seemed to pierce the sky. Mt. Horn.

            Just as I was thinking how beautiful this scene must have looked in the past, when it had color, I remembered something else. The race was still going on! Did I get through the forest before Trennivon did?

            I spun around quickly, looking for him. The pattern seemed to continue from earlier; the Scyther was nowhere to be found.

            "Yes!" I punched the air with my claw in victory. "I won! Ha! Take that!"

            As I was saying this, the bushes rustled and the Bug-Type crashed out into the clearing. He looked around, perhaps thinking no one else was there.

            "Ye-!" Trennivon's shout was cut short as he turned around. When he noticed me, he threw his claws up in frustration. "Aw, come on! For Arceus' sake!"

            I grinned saying, "That's me -1, you -0? I mean, if we're keeping track, of course."

            Trennivon grunted in annoyance. "Cinder said you were fast, but geez! That was amazing! No one's ever beaten me in a race before; how in the world did you do that?"

            "With time to spare?" I said smugly, "Well, I don't know. It just comes naturally, I guess. Like, ever since I went in a forest for the first time. It was actually Treeshroud Forest, not too long ago."

            "You've been to Treeshroud Forest?" Trennivon asked, interested.

            "Yeah," I answered, "It was where Cinder and I found the first Time Gear. I was a Treecko back then; I hadn't evolved yet."

            "I haven't been there before. Treeshroud Forest, I mean." The Scyther stated, "What's it like?"

            I thought back to the dull-colored forest. "Dark," I replied.

            It was then when Celebi and Cinder stepped out of Dusk Forest to join us. 

            "I heard 'dark'." Cinder announced. "Are you guys talking about me?"

            "Why would 'dark' describe you?" I asked, incredulous.

            Cinder scrunched up her face in an effort to look angry. She just ended up looking ridiculous. "Because I'm mysterious and brooding." she said.

            "No you're not."

            My human friend pouted at me, jokingly.

            "Look!" Celebi said, pointing into the distance. "There's Mt. Horn!" the tall, grey peak looked over its smaller, also grey companions. "Once we get past there, Foggy Forest will be just ahead!"

            "Then what are we waiting for?" I motioned for them to follow me, "Let's get going!"

            The ravine in front of us proved to be no challenge to get down. Celebi floated right to the bottom, and it turned out that Trennivon could fly for low, short distances by buzzing his wings; he flew down to the ground. I slid down the rocky cliff face and helped Cinder down, though she protested.

            "I don't need any help. I'm fine." she insisted. She must have thought I wasn't watching her a moment later; her face consorted in pain. I frowned.

            _Will Cinder be able to make it to Foggy Forest? Or beyond? Will she be able to continue the mission?_

Our team walked through taller, rough grass dotted with rugged boulders. A small stream, frozen in time, trickled by, coming from further up the mountains. Finally, we reached the feet of the mountain range.

            "Onwards and upwards?" I started climbing up the side of the mountain. I would have preferred to have found a better way up, but there simply wasn't one. There wasn't any path available. Trennivon followed behind me, his claws digging into the rocks. Celebi floated above Cinder, right above her head. The rock face we were climbing was relatively easy to scale; there were many hand and footholds. After climbing for a bit, the cliff face stopped abruptly and turned into a narrow ledge. We decided to stop for a rest.

            Cinder arrived on the ledge last, breathing heavily. I asked if she was alright, but she cut me off, saying she was fine and that we should stop worrying about her. I didn't reply, knowing how stubborn the girl could be.

            As we continued climbing, Celebi flew up higher, ahead of us. Coming back down a moment later, she reported that the cliff face ended soon, and that a large valley between peaks was coming up, and that it led further through the mountain range.

               My claws were starting to hurt when we finally reached the valley. It wasn't one that led back down to the ground, usually filled with grass and plants; it was between two mountains, still high up from the earth. The mountains came together, forming a shallow crevice. I looked down the crack, following it down the valley. It led to more mountains, steadily heading east.

            "It's going to be like this for a while longer, guys." Celebi declared. "Climbing up, coming down, valleys and rocks and stuff. It's kinda just how mountains work."

            "We know how mountains work." Cinder put in.

            Celebi ignored her and continued. "Well, we probably have one more... well, what counts for a day, in the mountains. If we make good time, we should be in Foggy Forest by tomorrow night."

            I remembered Celebi saying that it would normally take about four days to get from Boulder Quarry to Foggy Forest. Calculating what the Time Traveler said just now, I came to it being only three days. We were ahead of schedule. Good.

            But also... it meant we were pushing Cinder harder. I looked nervously back at my human friend, who was leaning against a rock wall. She seemed to be a lot more tired than the rest of us.     

            _Just a little more... please._

            We decided to rest for the night, having been traveling for hours since leaving the Southern Jungle. I hadn't even noticed that much time had passed.

            But actually, no time had passed at all. It just _felt_ like it. Despite no time actually passing since I had woken up, I was exhausted. My feet were killing me, for one thing, and climbing mountains was something I had never done before, and even so, it was extremely tiring. We set up camp in the ravine and I was asleep in mere moments.

 

***

            Our band of four continued trekking through the mountains once we woke up. Celebi reported that we had been sleeping for ten hours, though, not surprisingly, I thought it felt like less.

            Even with time being frozen, the pink Time Traveler must still have a perfect sense of how much time passed. I thought it was kind of cool and useful at first, but then took that back, instead thinking it must have been terrible. Knowing that each day was coming and going, but nothing was actually happening. Knowing when the sun would rise and set, but not actually seeing it. It must have been horrible, I realized. 

            Traveling down the ravine, we kept going east, towards the other side of the mountains. I thought it strange that we hadn't met any other Pokemon along the way, like in other places we had been. I asked Celebi if she knew why, and she didn't. She suspected that it was because mountains became incredibly dangerous after time fell.

            "There's sometimes- oh, look! There's one!" the Time Traveler excitedly pointed upwards.

            Right above our heads, hanging suspended in the air, was a humongous boulder. It looked like it could fall at any moment.

            "After the Tower collapsed," Celebi started to explain, "Rocks like these that were falling were suddenly frozen in space. Pokemon living in the mountains must have been scared, thinking the rocks would start to fall randomly, so they left. The rocks never did fall, but still, no one came back. Food is also the scarcest in the mountains, though it's becoming scarce everywhere. So hardly any Pokemon ever even come close to the mountains anymore."

            We saw many of these floating rocks as we continued. At about the fourth or fifth one we passed, Cinder walked up to it. The boulder was floating about four feet above the ground. Cinder ducked under the rock and put her hands up against it. From the right perspective, it looked like she was holding up the rock.

            "Hey guys!" the girl called out. "Check out how strong I am!" she grunted like she was holding a heavy weight, though actually she was holding nothing at all.

            "Stop it, Cinder." I said, "That could be dangerous."

            "Alright, fine." Cinder walked out from under the rock, her hands up like she had done nothing wrong. "Just trying to have a bit of fun. We've been walking for hours!"

            I sighed, realizing she was right. We _had_ been walking for a while. I hadn't looked at Cinder for that whole time; she had been walking behind me. I didn't notice that she must have gotten bored.

            "Okay, how 'bout we play Eye-Spy?" my parents had taught me the game when I was a Treecko. It was quite simple, and was something to pass the time while they were trying to find the Time Traveler.

            "Yeah!" Cinder said excitedly. "I am SO going to win. Lemme go first..." we started walking as the girl looked around. Her eyes settled on something, and she exclaimed, "Okay, I got something! Try and guess!"

            Trennivon and Celebi decided to join the game as well. The Scyther thought for a bit and then spoke. "Is it..." he pointed to a short, dry, gnarled tree. "That tree over there?"

            "I didn't even give you any hints!" Cinder laughed. "But, no. It's not that tree."

            "Well then" I started, "Give us a hint!"

            "Hmm..." Cinder mused. "It's something grey..."

            I frowned, annoyed. "That doesn't really help."

            "Is it that floating rock?" Celebi pointed to a jagged boulder across the ravine. It was tall and thin, jagged around the edges like teeth.

            "Nope!" Cinder smiled.

            "Well, what could it be?" I gestured around randomly, exasperated. "The flipping sky? The mountains?" I motioned behind us, where we had passed by Mt. Horn a few hours earlier.

            "Nope, you're all wrong!" the girl proclaimed triumphantly. "It's... that!"

            Cinder pointed up ahead, and we all looked. In the distance, was a familiar shape: Grey, unmoving leaves and trees. A dense, misty fog clung around the branches and didn't let go.

            We had arrived at Foggy Forest.

 

***


	8. Chapter 7

Darkest Before the Dawn:

Chapter Seven

 

            With a renewed resolve, my team finished our journey through the mountains. The rocky path wound down into a different type of valley than the previous ones we had seen; it was grassy, like a field. But looking further down, the grass disappeared. It wasn't actually _gone,_ just unable to be seen. Thick, grey fog hovered above the ground, covering everything, concealing all that remained below from sight. Taller rocks poked up through the cover, the only things that were visible. Frozen in time, the mist was completely still.

            We climbed down into the valley, and found that the fog was even thicker than it had looked from up high. And it had looked pretty thick.

            I looked around, finding that I could hardly see any of my teammates. Hazy silhouettes stumbled across my field of vision. I heard the sound of footsteps, turned towards the noise, and shouted:

            "Cinder? Are you there?"

            "Grovyle?" Cinder's voice rang out. But it was behind me! I turned around again and tried to locate her.

            "Cinder!" I shouted again, "Celebi? Trennivon?"

            "We have to get to the forest!" I heard Celebi say from somewhere. "Maybe it'll be easier to see there!"

            It seemed like a good idea in theory, but was nearly impossible! Nothing stood out against the fog. The forest should be easy to see, right? I turned and turned and turned again, frantically trying to find the forest. Or anything!

            But I only succeeded in making myself dizzy. Which just made my situation worse.

            All of a sudden, a darker shape appeared through the fog. Could that be the forest? It looked tall, perhaps as tall as a tree, or a clump of trees. I didn't know how tall the trees in Foggy Forest were, so I took my chances and started walking towards whatever the object was.  

            I walked a few steps towards the silhouette, and then looked back up at it. It didn't appear any closer! Taking a few more steps, I watched it the whole time. And it didn't seem to move at all! Was I not moving? Or was that shape just further away than I thought?

            Finally, after walking for much longer than I anticipated, the foggy object seemed to be closer. Had I finally arrived at the forest?

            I came closer and closer, at long last appearing to get nearer to the object. Yes! I found it! I was finally at Foggy-

            Rock?

            A huge, rugged rock appeared through the fog as I went up to it. It stood upright, was rugged and rounded, and was certainly the biggest rock I had ever seen; probably three times Cinder's height.

            But it wasn't Foggy Forest! And now, because of this, I wasn't any closer to our destination.

            And then, I realized something worse.

            I hadn't heard anything for a long time.

            I was separated from my team.

 

***

 

            "Cinder! Celebi! Trennivon!" I wore myself out calling their names. And it was pointless. My voice bounced back to me, unable to pierce the fog. I passed ominous shapes, looming in the thick grey. Each time I went up to one, I found it to be another rock, or a bush. Anything but my friends.

            All of a sudden, a tall, thin shape appeared. I gasped. It _had_ to be Cinder! It just had to be!

            I ran up to the figure, yelling her name "Cinder! Cinder, there you are!"

            The fog thinned out as I came closer, revealing the shape to be... another boulder.

            _I was talking to a rock. Again,_ I mentally scolded myself, this having happened multiple times before. I saw shapes that looked like any of my friends. A small one, higher up that, in the fog, looked like it was floating. A taller one that seemed to have large claws. Or an upright one, like this one had been. I came up to each of them, hoping to finally find someone. But they had all been just rocks.

            Was I ever going to get out of this?

            How come I hadn't found any of them yet? Did they even notice I was gone? Were they looking for me? What if they were all separated as well! What if we were all stumbling blindly through the fog, disorientated and alone?

            I sighed, frustrated. It would be a lot easier to get through the forest. I could find my friends there, while jumping through the branches. I could just let my instincts guide me through the trees.

            Thinking about what I wanted to happen wouldn't make it happen, so I continued blindly on.

            I went along, looking for shapes through the grey. A darker one appeared, and I went towards it, halfheartedly. It was probably just going to be another rock.

            And I was right. It _was_ another rock. But not just any rock.

            It was the biggest rock I had ever seen! It was huge, maybe three times Cinder's height...

            Wait... Hadn't I seen this rock before?

            It was the same one I came up to in the first place! I was exactly where I had started!

            I yelled in frustration and placed my claws up against the rock, ready to bang my head on it to get ideas. But luckily, I stopped just in time because I noticed something.

            The rock had rugged protrusions coming out of it. They were all over it, leading up to the top. And they were the perfect handholds! I could climb the rock! Maybe I could see better from up higher.

            I pulled myself up, painstakingly. I didn't care how long this took, or how much it hurt. Already exhausted from climbing mountains for days, my muscles ached while having to climb one more. Even though it was a rock this time.

            Though it _was_ only a rock, this boulder proved harder to climb than the mountains. It extended straight up, piercing the fog. It wasn't slanted somewhat like a mountain had been. And though the mountains had been immensely taller, I couldn't even see the top of this rock though the fog.   

            My claws dug into the rock face. I pulled up and positioned my foot onto another indentation. _I must be almost there._ I turned my head and looked down.

            All I saw was fog. The ground had disappeared.

            _Okay, don't look down then._

Finally, the rock face rounded out into the top of the formation. I pulled myself up, standing up carefully on the peak of the rock. Everything I could see seemed clearer. I must have been above the fog!

            And that meant... that others could see me as well.

            A small speck in the sky swooped around in a circle above me. I hadn't been able to see it earlier because of the fog.

            I decided to ignore it and look for the forest.

            This turned out to be the wrong decision.

            A high-pitched screeching sound filled the air. The fog seemed to swallow the noise somewhat; it faded in and out of my being able to hear it. And because of this, I was completely taken aback when a shrieking sound reached my ears.

            "GO AWAY! GET OUT OF MY TERRITORY!"

            I was met by huge, yellowish talons barely inches from my face. Wind swirled around me, nearly pushing me off the rock.

            "GET OUT! GET OUT! THIS IS _MY_ LAND!" an incredibly angry Noctowl screamed. Her dark brown wings flapped furiously, and I struggled to stay on the rock.

            "I'm not trying to take your land!" I yelled desperately. "I'm just trying to find my friends!"

            A rumbling vibration noise came from the Owl Pokemon's throat. "You- you're lying! You're trying to take my territory!" she pointed at me with one claw. "You're just like the rest of them! Mad! Corrupted! Hysterical!"

            "No! No, I'm not!" I pleaded with her. "I'm _really_ not trying to do that! Just let me go, and as soon as I find my friends and the Time Gear, we'll be out of your... -er, feathers."

            The Noctowl blinked at me. Her wings beat slowly as she hovered above me. "Did you say... Time Gear?"

            Once again, I reminded myself to stop talking about the Time Gears in public. But I figured there was nothing I could do about it now. So I continued, "Yes, the Time Gear. We just need to find it, and then we'll never come back to Foggy Forest ever again."

            The Noctowl looked around nervously. Her huge eyes swiveled around, thinking.

            "Alright. Come with me."

 

***

            "Ah! Wh- wha- what?" I sputtered the words as the Owl Pokemon came swooping towards me. I found that I really didn't have a choice in the matter of coming along or not. Claws closed around my arms as the Noctowl picked me up with her talons and flew high above the fog. I had never been this high before. We must have been above the mountains.

            I couldn't believe it! I was actually flying! It was just like back in Treeshroud Forest, leaping through the trees!  But it was _real_ this time! It was exhilarating! It was incredible!

            It was terrifying.

            Scratch that. It was _nothing_ like being in  Treeshroud Forest. This was _nothing_ like that. I could fall at any second. I didn't have the same feeling of euphoria. There were no trees or leaves up this high. I was out of my element. Literally.

            I immediately decided that Grass-Types weren't meant to fly.

            Wind rushed in my face as the Noctowl swooped downwards suddenly. A scream rose in my throat, but the wind blew it away.

            We burst through the fog cover and were suddenly among trees. The Noctowl steadied her wings and glided, circling around branches and tree trunks. Her wings popped out, sending us to a sudden stop. The Noctowl's talons loosened around my arms.

            And I fell.

            I hardly had time to be horrified. The only thought that came to my mind was _Why in Arceus' name did she drop me?_

The Noctowl disappeared as she flew around a group of trees. _Why was she leaving me here to fall? I'm gonna crash! I'm going to-_

            I landed on something soft.

            Opening one eye, I looked around.

            Sticks and leaves formed in to a circle surrounded me. I was sitting on tiny, soft feathers. It was a nest.

            Still looking around, I noticed I was not alone in this nest. I wriggling clump of something was huddled up in the corner.

            I was being stared at by two pairs of huge eyes. Two baby Hoothoot looked back at me. They must have been incredibly young, still hardly more than balls of fluff. They were huddled around a small, brown-spotted Egg.

            The Noctowl alighted on the edge of the nest. "These are my children." she said, nodding to the two little Bird Pokemon. "My name's Henna. I apologize for.. The flight in. It must have been awful for a Grass-Type."

            "It's fine." I answered, trying to make her feel better. "And my name's Grovyle."

            Henna nodded, and then she sighed. "Also, I am sorry for attacking you." The Noctowl sighed again, and her face grew dark. "But it's what I have to do. I have to be overly cautious. And if that means attacking strangers, then so be it." Henna looked wistful. "It is for my children. If I let anyone in my territory, my babies might get hurt or worse. And their sibling isn't even hatched yet." Henna stared sadly at the Egg. "Eggs keep getting smaller and smaller. I'm not sure if this one will ever hatch."

            Something crackled under my step, and I realized that the floor of the nest was covered in broken Eggshells. Much too many for only two Hoothoot.

            Henna must have seen me looking at the broken shells on the ground. "All the others before didn't made it." she whispered softly, air whistling out of her beak. "They were too small, sickly. And food is scarce. Bird Pokemon do not eat Berries, and Bugs are moving out of Foggy Forest, so I have to venture further and further from my home every day to hunt. Leaving my children here alone."

            "What about their father?" I asked, but noticing the Noctow's crestfallen expression, I wished I hadn't asked.

            "He left." was all Henna said. "Before these two hatched." her face hardened. "But I am better off without him anyway. That Arceus-forsaken-" she sputtered in anger, and a rumbling came from her throat, "That _monster_ deserves to die out in the darkness on his own."

            I dropped the subject. "So why did you bring me here and tell me all this?"

            Henna's nest was high in the treetops, so the fog layer on the ground did not reach up here. The Owl Pokemon was silent; I saw that she was thinking, deciding on something to say. Her head started to swivel around, until it was completely upside-down. This was very unnerving, and I couldn't find anything to say. I had never seen any other Pokemon do that before, and I was sure I would break my neck if I tried. Perhaps Noctowl do that while they're thinking? Henna's face moved back into its normal position.

            "You mentioned the Time Gear." she said finally. "Are you part of the rebellion against..." Henna leaned in and whispered, " _Dialga?"_    

            "Yes." I didn't hesitate. She already knew about the Time Gears, so she must have known something about the mission.

            _Why do we keep it a secret anyway?_ I thought while Henna was silent. _Of course, it's to keep Dialga off our scent, but couldn't others help? Just spreading a small spark to trusted Pokemon we meet along the way? Just spreading a little bit of Hope that all this might end soon?_

            "Others have came thorough here." the Noctowl finally stated. "Looking for the Time Gear. I've watched them, only to guard my territory. None of them ever said they were looking for the Time Gear. But I knew they were looking for it. When these Pokemon came through occasionally, I could just _feel_ that they were trying to find it."

            "Is that why you came up to me?" I asked.

            "Not at first," Henna affirmed. "But it was afterwards that I had the same feeling about you, even before you mentioned the Time Gear."

            _Maybe that's how Trennivon knew,_ I thought. "How could you tell something like that?"

            "I don't know." the Noctowl admitted. "Perhaps I was supposed to be a Psychic -Type. But actually, I think it's something else."

            Henna looked at me with her large, red irises. "I think it was... Hope."

            "What do you mean?"

            "These Pokemon... you could just _feel_ the Hope coming off of them. _Radiating_ from them." Henna closed her eyes, like she was picturing an old, cherished memory. "Like rays of sunlight bursting through the clouds. Yes, that's exactly how it felt. Somehow, when I looked at these Pokemon, I somehow _knew_ that they were good. I knew that they could change the world for the better. Change it back to what it once was." 

            "Then... then you've seen it then," I whispered, half in awe, half in fear of raising my voice. "The sunrise, I mean."

            "Long ago." The Noctowl lowered her voice. "When I was young, before the darkness. Before the Tower's collapse. Yes, I saw the sun."

            "How long has it been?" I asked, not knowing the answer. My parents had never told me; perhaps they did not know. "How long have we been in this future of darkness?"

            "I can't say." Henna answered. "Too long. I'm not certain if anyone truly knows. It must have happened... years; many, many years ago that Temporal Tower fell."

            At that moment, one of the baby Hoothoot began to cry. Its sibling joined it, probably mimicking. Oddly enough, the two babies made hardly a sound. They didn't wail or fill the treetops with screaming. The baby Birds were only whimpering, the sounds barely reaching my ears.

            Henna shushed her children, making cooing sounds and gathering her wings about them. The two little balls of fluff joined together under the Noctowl's large wings, bunched up against the soft feathers on her belly.

            "They're so quiet." I observed, hoping Henna would explain further, which she did:

            "It's what they've learned. If they were any louder, an attacker may hear." the mother hung her head as she quietly said, "It's happened before. While I was away..." she trailed off as what she stated next was hardly audible. "They were just... gone. When I came back. Just a pile of feathers... and blood."

            "I'm so sor-" my words were cut off.

            "No, stop, Grovyle." Henna sighed. "What you might say won't help. It's already done. There is nothing I can do about it now. Despite time not flowing, the past is in the past. It is all I can do now so these two can have a better fate." 

            I was appalled by her lack of sympathy, but didn't let it show. But, I reasoned that it made sense with all the Noctowl had stated previously. It would make sense for her to move on.

            _So why can't I? Why am I still hanging on to my parent's memory? Why can I not be like Henna and let it go?_

_Why can I not forgive myself?_

I found that I could not answer this question.

 

***

            I pushed branches out of the way as I leaped though the treetops. After staying with Henna for a while longer, I decided it was time to find my friends. The Noctowl had pointed me in the general direction of the center of the forest. The fog was thinner the further away one was from the ground, so I figured I might be able to find my way more easily in the trees than on the forest floor. I thanked the Owl Pokemon for her hospitality and was off.

            Happy to be out of that foggy field below the mountains, I raced through the trees, desperate to find my friends. The fog below me clouded the ground from view, but it didn't matter. I was back in my element, at home in the trees. Somehow, I knew I was going in the right direction.

            The leaves ended abruptly into a clearing. I jumped onto the ground, cutting through the fog. Darker shapes that were probably boulders dotted the edge of the clearing and trees sprang up between gaps. I thought I could make out a lighter area that suggested a path leading forward.

            I started going down the path, when a soft noise came from behind me. I spun around, trying to locate where it came from. But nothing was there.

            _What was that? Was it just nothing? It wasn't the wind..._ I remembered what I had thought back in the Southern Jungle, and I had been horribly mistaken. _Were Dusclops and those Sableye here right now? Are they going to ambush me out of nowhere just like that other time?_

A sound that I had never heard before was whispered out into the air. It wasn't the demonic laughing of the Sableye. Definitely not. It seemed to cut though the fog like a sword: _"Hissssss...." click click click clack clack..._

 _Okay... maybe not Sableye._ I thought, beginning to panic. _So what in Arceus' name was that?_

My heart beating furiously in my chest, I waited. I doubted my eyes could go any wider as I frantically glanced in every direction.

            _They must have left._ I tried to reassure myself. _Yeah, they definitely left._

I continued on the path. On the dirt and grass forest floor, my footsteps made hardly a sound. In fact, I couldn't hear anything. As usual, not a single leaf or branch moved, completely frozen in time. Even the blades of grass were still. The silence, though not entirely unusual, was unnerving. I picked up my pace, starting to take short hops along the ground.

            _"Hisssssssschaaaaaa" clack clack click click click..._

"Come out! I'm not scared of you!" I yelled, hoping my voice didn't betray the opposite.

            _Click click click click click click click clack clack clack._ The odd clicking sound sped up rapidly. In moments, it was such a fast movement, there was almost no space between each click, and it sounded like a vibration.

            "Show yourself!" I yelled again, before setting myself into a fighter's stance.

            _"Hisssssrrrrraaaaaa!"_ the hissing sound broke into a battle cry and the maker crashed out of the bushes, trampling right towards me.

            The Pokemon was moving so fast, I hardly had time to move out of the way. With hardly a moment to spare, I jumped to the side. When it reached the other side of the clearing, the Pokemon skidded to a halt, swung around, and charged towards me again, clicking all the while.

            I didn't have much time to get a good look at the Pokemon, but from what I could see in a few seconds, I could tell it was a dusty brown color. It also had two huge, spiked horns coming to a point on its head. It had a gaping mouth with a bunch of objects like teeth lining the sides, which moved together and apart, making the clicking sound I had been hearing.

            Unfortunately, while I'd been trying to figure out what this Pokemon was, the Pinsir was still charging at me. I was taken off guard, and was unable to evade its horns.

            I was lifted up into the air, caught between the sharp, spiked grasp. I forced my claws against them, the spikes digging into my grip. Specks of blood appeared on my green skin. Grunting, I tried to hold back the crushing weight of the Pinsir's horns.

            Clacking angrily, the Pinsir determinedly tried to slice me in half, forcing its horns together. It was getting harder and harder to hold the spiked horns apart.

            My arms started to shake from fatigue. I couldn't even try to get out; if I stopped pushing against the Pinsir's grip, it would snap shut, and let's just say that some heads would roll.

            I squeezed my eyes shut. _This is it. I've come so far, and to end like this? And my friends will never even know..._

            Just as I was about to give in to the crushing force against me, there was a cracking sound. The Pinsir's grip suddenly fell apart. Its horns fell sideways, and I jumped out it its grasp.

            "Grovyle!" someone called my name through the bushes, and the one who was calling stepped out into the space.

            I couldn't believe it. But there she was.

            Cinder stepped out of the bushes.

            "Cinder!" I ran to her, positively bursting with relief. "Cinder, how in the world did you find me? Where have you been? Where's everyone else? Cinder, what happened?"

            "I'll explain in a moment." Cinder said. "Let's take care of this guy first." The girl pointed behind me with her sword. I looked back to where the Pinsir was. The brown Bug-Type was lying on the ground in the middle of the clearing.

            With Cinder's sudden arrival,  hadn't had any time to think about how I was rescued right in the nick of time. I walked over to my former attacker. It was sprawled out, face to the ground. _Why did it suddenly release me?_ I thought, but then realized the answer.

            A dark grey thorn of metal was sticking out of the Pinsir's back.

            "Cinder!" I cried in shock, turning to face her. "You- you! You threw a-! You... you _killed_ it!"

            "No," Cinder answered, surprising me. "No, I didn't."

            "Explain. This." I nodded towards the Stag Beetle Pokemon's body. "Now."

            "When we got separated going into the valley after climbing the mountains, I tried to find Foggy Forest."

            "So did I." I said.

            "Don't interrupt." Cinder frowned.

            I sniffed as she went on. "Anyway, somehow, I found the forest. And I also found-" Cinder slapped her forehead in annoyance. "Oh geez, I completely forgot! I found Trennivon! I told him to wait in the bushes while I took care of that Pinsir! Totally didn't expect to find you here, by the way."

            "Trennivon!" Cinder called back, "You can come out now!"

            "Y- you sure?" the Scyther's trembling voice answered. "O- okay..."

            Trennivon came out of the bushes, nearly tripping on a stray branch. His wings shot out as he caught himself before hitting the ground. The Bug-Type picked himself up and walked over to where we were.

            "Oh, hello, Grovyle!" Trennivon said, noticing me for the first time. "Looks like we're almost all together again! It's a good thing Cinder found me 'cause-"

            "Yeah, whatever." Cinder said, waving him off. "Let me finish my story."

            Trennivon frowned, and Cinder went on. "So _anyway again_ , I found Trennivon. We tried to navigate through the forest and find the Time Gear as well. But it's nearly impossible to see anything with this fog!"

            "So I suggested," Trennivon cut in. "that we leave Foggy Forest and come back later. It doesn't really matter what order we get the Time Gears in, as long as we get them all. So I said that it might be better to go to Crystal Cave."

            "I thought that was pretty reasonable." Cinder picked up her story. "But we still had to find the rest of our team. So we just kept walking through the forest blindly, hoping we'd eventually meet up with someone else we knew."

            "This still doesn't explain how you _didn't kill_ that Pinsir." I pointed out.

            "I'm getting to that." the girl reassured me. "So as we were trying to find you guys, there were some rogue Pokemon we had to battle along the way. One of them was some Bug-Type that tried to use Sleep Powder-"

            "It _did_ actually end up using it." Trennivon added. "Cinder had to wake me up."

            "Oh, right." Cinder grinned sheepishly. "I forgot about that part. Anyway, I thought it'd be a good idea to take some of that Sleep Powder dust and use it to our advantage."

            I was putting all the pieces together. "So that Iron Thorn... is just covered in Sleep Powder? And the Pinsir's just sleeping?"

            "Yep!" Cinder looked proud of her work.

            "How did you know the Thorn wouldn't go straight through the Pinsir?" I asked her.

            "That was Trennivon's doing." Cinder nodded to the Scyther. "He told me that Pinsir have thick armor that has many layers. I figured that one Iron Thorn wouldn't go right through it, so I put some Sleep Powder on the Thorn, and threw!"

            "Do you know how risky that was?" I exclaimed. "What if Trennivon had been wrong? You could have killed it!"

            "It was about to kill you!" Cinder's eyes narrowed. "What difference would it have made if you were still saved?"

            "A life is always better than a death." I stated, "Always."

            The girl stared at me blankly, seeming to process what I said. "Even if it was Dialga?" Cinder snarled. "If you had the chance, would you kill him? For everything he's done to you? For everything you've lost? To save this Arceus-forsaken world?"

            I couldn't answer. Could I kill Dialga if it came down to it? It was just like Cinder said. Dialga more than anyone was the cause of my pain and suffering. He killed my parents and the others that have tried to change the past. He is so afraid of change that he has done nothing to change this dark world and got rid of the ones that did.

            Bud did he deserve to die?

            Did anyone?

            "Well, I would." Cinder muttered, "The things that monster's done to me, to my-" but her voice caught, and she stopped talking. 

            The things Cinder just said were so completely unlike everything she normally says, I was surprised. The girl must have been through something horrible. I suppose that all of us have. We've all been put through trials and tribulation because of this dark world. Everyone was affected, but some were better at hiding it than others.

            Thinking about this, I realized that I hardly knew anything about Cinder's past. She knew about mine, but never told me about hers. I would have never guessed it was as dark as mine, as she was always smiling and telling jokes.

            It was just like Henna had said: Cinder had left the past behind. Whatever had happened to her, she had let it go.

            But why can I _still_ not do the same?

            Why can I not let go of the past?

           

***

 

            I turned around, expecting the others to follow, when Cinder gasped and came up behind me. "Grovyle, you're hurt!"

            "Hm?" I faced her. I didn't really feel like I was hurting too much.

            "Your arms and your back!" Cinder explained, holding a hand over her mouth.

            I remembered that when the Sableye attacked, one had raked its claws down my back. And the Pinsir just before had nearly crushed my arms. In the process, the wounds on my back must have re-opened themselves. I must have just thought nothing of it, the pain numbing itself.

            "Im fine, I'm fine." I told Cinder, though I was glad she still seemed to care for me, even after all our outbursts. "I can keep going."

            Cinder looked unsure. "It looks pretty bad... Are you sure you want to keep going?"

            "I'm _fine."_ I said again. "Besides, you didn't want us to stop for you when you were hurt. Why should my case be any different?"

            The girl still didn't look convinced, but said, "Alright... But I'm walking behind you so Trennivon and I can shield you in an attack and you don't have to fight."

            Knowing how it would be futile to argue with Cinder's stubbornness, I kept silent, which she must have took as agreement.

            I followed Trennivon past the bushes they had come out of. Behind them was another path. The Scyther led the way as we walked through the fog-filled forest.

            With everything that had just happened, I had barely any time to realize another fact, and it suddenly made me incredibly scared.

            We were missing someone on our team.

            "Where is Celebi?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

            "We haven't found her yet." Trennivon said from up ahead.

            I could feel the blood draining from my face. "W-... what?" I sputtered. "You mean you have no idea where she is?"

            "I was only able to find Trennivon after we all got separated in the foggy valley below the mountains." Cinder explained. "We tried to find you and Celebi, but didn't have any luck. Then, while I was scouting ahead for rogue Pokemon we found that Pinsir, and it was only a coincidence that you happened to be there too."  

            "So Celebi is lost in the fog on her own?" my voice was starting to shake.

            "Calm down, Grovyle." Cinder laid a hand on my shoulder. "Celebi can handle herself."

            "She's probably looking for us too." Trennivon put in.

            "You-you're right." I reasoned. The Time Traveler was a tough Pokemon. I remembered back to our first meeting where Celebi had happily proclaimed that, 'No one can catch me!', and also back to the Sableye ambush where she fought so wonderfully.

            All of this still didn't stop me from worrying just a tiny bit.

            As we continued walking, Cinder started to chuckle. "Gee, Grovyle. You just seemed a _teensy_ bit over concerned right then."

            There was something hinting about the way she said it, so I carefully chose my next words. "Yes. Of course. I'm sure you were just as scared for me when I was missing."

            "Yeah..." Cinder drew out the word. "I was. But you look like you're..."

            "Like I'm... what?"

            "Freaking out." the girl said bluntly.

            "I'm not freaking out!" I argued, though I felt as my voice betrayed otherwise. "Like I said: you were probably freaking out too when we all got separated!"          

            "Not that much!" Cinder said in a singsong tone.

            "Well, why shouldn't I be freaking out?"

            "'Cause it seems to me," Cinder paused to hop over a fallen log, "that you're not only freaking out. You're _scared._ "

            I rolled my eyes. "Okay, Cinder. Let me be honest. I have no idea where this conversation is going. Just get out with it."

            "You're scared." the girl reiterated, "For Celebi."

            "So are you." I retorted.

            A devilish grin spread across her lips. "'Cause you _liiiiikeeee_ her."

            I could feel my face flushing. "N-n-n-n-n-n-n-no I don't!" I stuttered, "I mean, sh-sh-sure as a friend! But- but nothing more!"  

            But Cinder wouldn't stop giggling. I turned to Trennivon for help.

            "Don't being me into this!" the Scyther cried, raising up his claws.

            Cinder persisted: "Grovyle likes Celebi! Grovyle likes Celebi!"

            "Shut up." I growled. Fortunately, she took the warning and stopped talking.

            We trekked deeper and deeper into Foggy Forest. Unlike higher up in the trees, fog floated dormant around our little team the further along we went. With Cinder in front and Trennivon behind, with myself in between, we stayed close together as to not get lost again. I stayed near enough to always see Cinder's silhouette in front of me as I walked.

            After walking along a winding forest path for a while longer, we came upon a clearing. Thick grey mist surrounded on all sides, unmoving.

            "We must be pretty deep into the forest by now..." Cinder surmised. "Do you think Celebi would be around here?"

            I didn't answer. Something had caught my eye: a dark shape, looming, blurry through the fog.

            "Look! There's something up ahead!" I pointed further into the clearing and started moving closer, and my teammates followed behind.

            The shape became clearer as we got closer. Finally, it was close enough to touch, and the figure was clear.

            It was a stone statue.

            "What is a statue doing out in the middle of a forest?" Trennivon wondered aloud. "Seems odd, don't you think?"

            "That's true." Cinder said. "But what's even weirder is what the statue is of. I have honestly no idea what it is."

            I looked up at the statue. It was a bit blurry through the fog, but I could still make it out. It was made of grey stone, cracking in some places. The platform the main statue was placed on was tilted into the ground, causing the whole figure to lean over. The main figure was a few feet taller than Cinder, not counting the pedestal, which made it even larger. This was a bit hard to judge though, with the statue leaning into the ground, about to fall over.

            The stone figure on the platform was obviously some sort of Pokemon. It stood on two legs with shorter arms that had large claws. Its tail extended out behind it, curving up at the end. A row of spikes tipped its tail. Though the stone was old-looking, the statue's fanged mouth still looked sharp. Thicker stone seemed to cover the whole figure like an armor. An odd, lined pattern was also carved into the statue's body.

            "It must be some legendary Pokemon." I guessed. "It probably would have to be pretty powerful to deserve a statue."

            "I deserve a statue..." Cinder muttered.

            I rolled my eyes and started to get a closer look at the statue. It had to be here for a reason. It was a puzzle. Yes! It was exactly like the illusion chamber back in Boulder Quarry! This statue must have a trick to it, and that's how we'll be able to move forward!

            I came around the side of the statue, and noticed something. A plaque was carved into the side of the pedestal. It appeared to have something written on it in Footprint Runes.

            "Drought... into... heart... lift fog?" I struggled through reading the script. The stone was old and worn, most of the lettering was too far gone to decipher.

            "What did you find, Grovyle?" a voice said behind me.

            "There's something written here, Cinder." I answered, "But I can't figure out what it says."

            "Cinder?" the voice seemed surprised. "If you think I'm-! Well, that's just rude!"

            I was too engrossed in reading the plaque to notice that the voice didn't sound even remotely like Cinder's. I spun around and was greeted by a familiar face.

            "Celebi!" I exclaimed, and started running towards her. I jumped into the air, tackling her into an embrace, forcing the small pink Pokemon to the ground.

            "I missed you too!" Celebi laughed and hugged me back.

            "Look who Grovyle found!" Cinder came around the side of the statue, Trennivon behind her. "Good to see you again, Celebi!"

            Only then remembering that I was still hugging her, I quickly let go of Celebi and took a step away. I saw Cinder slip me a sly grin, and I reddened, remembering our conversation from earlier.

            _'Shut up.'_ I mouthed to her, and she gave me a _don't-look-at-me_ face, widening her eyes and frowning. As I looked away, I thought I saw her start grinning slightly again, but I ignored her.

            "So, now we're all together again!" Trennivon broke the silence. Then, the Scyther frowned. "What do we do now?"

            None of us had an answer.

            "No one was able to find the Time Gear?" Celebi asked. Again, there was silence and Celebi shook her head. "Thought so. I couldn't find it either. This fog is too thick to see anything."

            "Why don't we go somewhere else then?" Trennivon suggested. "Instead of Foggy Forest, I mean."

            "Right!" Cinder added. "You said that earlier! It seems like the best idea, don't you think, Celebi?"

            The Time Traveler shrugged. "I guess if that's the only option. We can come back to Foggy Forest later, after we've gotten some other Time Gears."

            "Good, then!" Trennivon declared. "To Crystal Cave next, right?"

            "If that's where you want to go." Celebi said, "That's actually a good idea. I think Crystal Cave is closest to Foggy Forest. If we're comparing it to the Northern Desert, or course."

            "Okay then!" Cinder stated. "We'll head out of here now and come back to Foggy Forest once we've gotten more Time Gears!"

            "Sounds good." I agreed. "Let's go."

            Celebi and Trennivon started following Cinder out of the clearing. I began to go behind them, but stopped. I looked back at the statue.

            _Drought... heart... lift the fog?_ The words inscribed on the stone plaque made no sense!

            I shook my head. We'd cross that bridge when we come back to it.

            I followed my team out of Foggy Forest.

 

***

 


	9. Chapter 8

Darkest Before the Dawn:

Chapter Eight                    

 

            Luckily, there were no major problems getting out of the fog, unlike what had happened when we came in.

            We were walking out of the fog and nearer to the feet of the mountains as Cinder was looking at the map. She had it completely unfolded in front of her face and was holding it out and bringing it closer, trying to read it.

            "Okay team!" she cried out, "We just have to go through another forest and across a field and then we'll be right at Crystal Cave!"

            "What, did the mountains just disappear?" I asked sardonically.

            "Wait, what?" Cinder lowered the map. She tilted her head back and looked up at the mountains looming in font of her. Looking back at the map, she said, "But there aren't any..."

            I snatched the map from her, looked at it and then grumbled, handing it back to her. "You were reading it upside down!"

            Cinder frowned, and then turned the map the right way up. "Ohhhhh...."

            Cinder corrected her statement saying that what we had to do was go back through the mountains again, crossing Mt. Horn. We'd come out around Apple Woods and then continue north, skirting past Mt. Bristle and straight up to Crystal Cave.  

            Great. More mountain climbing.

            "We couldn't exactly get anywhere from Foggy Forest without going through the mountains." Celebi explained. "We'd have to go even further to get to the Northern Desert. If we go to Crystal Cave first, the Northern Desert is nearby so we can get one Time Gear right after the next!"

            That didn't make the prospect of mountain climbing go away. I resigned to my fate of rocks and sore muscles.

            Like before, it took about two days to cross the mountains. Well, what counted for that amount of time anyway. Celebi kept us informed of the passing time, despite there being no change in the light.

            We hardly had to fight a single rogue Pokemon while journeying through the mountains. I supposed it was for the best, so none of us would get hurt any more than we already were. I caught Cinder looking pointedly at me a number of times as she walked behind me. She must have still been concerned about my wounds from the Sableye and the Pinsir.

            Cinder, though, still had her own injury to worry about. Trennivon, since he was better versed in medicine, kept up with the girl's healing. He tried to assist me as well, but I refused saying that Cinder needed help more. I wasn't the one who had suddenly collapsed, after all.

            "Oh no," I heard the Scyther mutter once we had set up camp for the night. I glanced over to see what what the matter. We were set up in a wide crack in the side of a cliff. If anyone had happened to pass by, they probably wouldn't notice we were there, hidden in the side of the mountain.

            "What is it?" I asked, going over to where Trennivon was seated on the stone floor. Cinder was sitting cross-legged next to him. Celebi was asleep on the ground nearby, curled up on a few of the Scarves we had found on our journeys.

            "We're down to our last Oran Berry." Trennivon reported, holding open Cinder's backpack, careful not to rip it with his claws. He peered down into the opening. "It looks like we're almost out of Apples as well."

            That really wasn't good news.

            "We only have one more day in the mountains." I said, "Once we're back on the ground, we can find some more food."

            "Food's getting harder and harder to find." Trennivon grumbled.

            "He's right," Cinder added. "We were lucky we found all those supplies back at the Guild when we did."

            "We'll find something." I persisted. "In a forest or something. Didn't you say there was a wood of some sort nearby once we come down on the far side of the mountains, Cinder?"

            Trennivon looked thoughtful. "You're right. Wasn't it Apple Woods?" Cinder nodded.

            "Well, see there!" I declared. "Apple Woods. The name itself says food. We'll re-stock once we get there."

            "Sounds good." Cinder agreed. Trennivon then offered her the last Oran Berry. "Oh, no. I'm not going to take that." she said, pushing the fruit away. "It's our last one, and we might need it later." I knew then that she was serious, never having seen the girl pass up food before.

            "I know your injury has had time to heal since the Sableye attack, but we haven't exactly been having a restful vacation since then." The Scyther held out the Berry again, "It's like Grovyle said. We can get more soon. Just have this now."

            "I'm fine." Cinder said automatically. But then she reconsidered and took the Berry. There was a snapping sound when she broke the Oran in half. The girl handed the other half to me.

            "You need it too." Cinder placed the Berry half in my claw.

            I looked to Trennivon. "But you... and Celebi. You guys aren't getting anything."

            "It's fine." the Bug-Type insisted. "We're not the ones who're hurt. You and Cinder need this more than Celebi and I do."

            I sighed, seeing no sense in arguing, popping my half of the Berry into my mouth. Cinder did the same. After being in Cinder's bag for so long, the Oran Berry had dried out a bit, becoming a bit smaller and dehydrated. Despite that fact, the Berry still had a bit of juice remaining, and it left me feeling a little more rejuvenated.     

            I thanked Trennivon, and settled down on the stone floor to sleep.

 

***

 

            "Finally!" Cinder shouted the next day. We had traveled the next 'day' from the time we woken up to late in the 'afternoon'. Cinder was leading the group, with myself behind and Celebi and Trennivon following me. Cinder was a ways ahead and had just crested the top of a short rise in the mountain.

            I climbed up onto the rock hill and stood next to Cinder. What was displayed beyond was certainly enough to get excited over.

            The mountain face sloped downward into a grassy field. Just behind that was something even better.

            "That must be Apple Woods!" Cinder exclaimed, pointing. From out advantageous viewpoint, we could see the whole wood. Frozen in time, it was a light grey color, and as usual, not a single leaf moved. The forest itself was oblong-shaped, and looked thinner than Treeshroud and Foggy Forests had been. It definitely wasn't as thick and full of foliage as the Southern Jungle was. Just beyond Apple Woods was a tall, prickly-looking formation that I recognized as Mt. Bristle.

            "Come on, you guys!" Cinder called as she headed down the side of the mountain. "Apple Woods is just ahead!"

            I was fully relieved when stepping off the mountainside and into the grass. It was so much softer compared to the cold, rocky, mountains. 

            The rest of our team made it down the mountains and we started off towards Apple Woods.

            Arriving at the wood after her, I saw Cinder stop once she got to the forest's edge. She seemed confused, looking up and all around. I came up alongside her.

            "Where are all the Apples?" the girl asked.

            I looked up at the branches above us. My human friend was right. There was not a single Apple hanging in the trees. 

            "Well that's strange..." Celebi commented, coming up behind us. "Usually there's a lot-" she frowned, "Let's go deeper into the woods. Maybe there'll be more Apples there."

            The Time Traveler took the lead as we followed her into Apple Woods. The trees surrounding us were tall and the trunks thin and straight. The bark of the tree trunks was a lighter grey while the leaves were a darker shade. I looked at the leaves growing along my arms. They had gotten a bit longer since I had evolved. Though it was dark, my leaves reflected the sparse light slightly, a faint glisten bounced around as I moved my arms. The leaves of Apple Woods above me did no such thing. There was no glimmering reflection. The leaves were just as dull as a dirt path.

            And there were still no Apples.

            Coming to a clearing at the middle of the forest, my team stopped suddenly. Standing in front of us was a huge tree.

            "That has to be the biggest tree I have ever seen!" Cinder cried out. She went over to the base near its sprawling roots. Cinder was the tallest out of all of us, and she didn't even come up to half the ginormous tree's height.

            "Thank you for stating the obvious." I said, walking up beside her. I had to admit, though. Cinder did have a point. The roots of the gargantuan tree spread out far all around. They burrowed through the dirt and cracked the ground, trying to spread further. I followed the trunk up into the branches. I had to tilt my head all the way back just to see the crown of the tree.

            But something was wrong.

            "There still aren't any Apples.." I trailed off.

            Celebi floated up over my head. She flew up high in the huge tree, hovering around in the branches. "I- I don't understand!" she said, coming back down. "There are always Apples here! The biggest Apples are always right here in this tree!"

            "If there aren't any Apples here," Cinder started, "Then what are we gonna do for food?"

            Celebi didn't answer. "Even after time stopped, there was always food here. All the Pokemon that lived in the area agreed to share Apple Woods between them. I- I thought... I don't... I don't know..."

            "It was the corrupt Pokemon." Trennivon stated grimly, reminding us all that he was still there.

            "What do you mean?" I asked apprehensively. 

            "I mean," the Scyther stepped up, dragging his feet on the ground sending up puffs of dirt. He looked up at us, "that the corrupted Pokemon took all the Apples. It's what was happening in The Southern Jungle. It's happening everywhere. Pokemon that used to get along suddenly start fighting over little things like food and then suddenly someone takes too much. And just like that," Trennivon clacked his claws together with a SNAP! "Its gone."

            Cinder, Celebi, and I all stared at him, dumbfounded. 

            "We should get going." the Bug-Type said, dropping the subject. "Places such as these can become battlegrounds if you're not careful. Everyone's competing for food. Or what's left of it, anyway."

            All at a loss for words, we followed Trennivon out of Apple Woods, heading north.

 

***

            Though we were unable to satisfy ourselves completely, my little team was able to find some food along the way to Crystal Cave. Skirting around Mt. Bristle, there were some small, gnarled Berry trees to be found near the mountain's base. The trees, if they could even be called as much, were hardly taller than Celebi and were so brittle, the branches fell apart in my claws. But there were a few, incredibly tiny and underripe Rawst and Oran Berries dangling off the tips of the branches.

            I frowned at the tiny Berries before popping one of the undersized Orans in my mouth. My lips puckered at the sour taste and my face scrunched up. But then, I started coughing.

            I sputtered and coughed and hacked like the Berry was stuck in my throat, even though it wasn't.

            "Grovyle!" Celebi cried out. She appeared blurry through the tears in my eyes as my throat started to burn.

            I knelt on the ground, wheezing. Finally, after a few more moments, the pain disappeared as quickly as it had come. I rubbed my neck, still feeling a bit sore.

            "What..." I choked out, my voice hoarse, "Was that?"

            "Was it the Berries?" Celebi asked.

            "All I had was an Oran." I explained, "I guess it was a little underripe but-"

            I was cut off by a cry or victory coming from Cinder. "Ah-ha!" she bent down and picked something up off the ground. "Here's the culprit!"

            Trennivon and Celebi gathered around as Cinder showed me what was in her hand.

            I blinked at her. "Yes. It was an Oran Berry." One of the small, dull-blue Berries was in her grasp. "I said that already."

            "No," the girl chuckled, "This isn't an Oran Berry."

            "Then what in Arceus' name just tried to kill me?"

            "It's an _Oren_ Berry." Cinder explained like she expected me to understand.

            I waited for her to explain further, but Celebi jumped in.

            "Oh! It's a Lookalike Item for an Oran Berry." the Time Traveler said. "They look just like Oran Berries, but are completely different."

            "Where an Oran Berry would heal you, an Oren Berry hurts you." Trennivon muttered. The Scyther seemed to have regained his normal quiet composure, unlike his angry ranting earlier. "It's a trick used to survive like camouflage."

            I wasn't in the mood for a lecture, and I was still hungry. I grabbed one of the Rawst Berries that grew next to the Orens. "This is a real Rawst, right?" I asked, holding the Berry out for Cinder to observe. She said it was fine, and I took a bite out of it. Rawst Berries hadn't ever been my favorite; they were too bitter. But anything was better than those Oren Berries, so I picked off the remaining Rawsts and we continued on past Mt. Bristle towards Crystal Cave.

 

***

 

 

            "This looks familiar." I said. After a while more of walking after passing Mt. Bristle, the sloping, grey form of the tunnels of Crystal Cave were finally coming into view.

            "Deja Vu?" Cinder asked, "That's kinda my job."

            "Just because you can see into the past _sometimes_ doesn't mean you have to-" I stopped myself, shaking my head. "It doesn't matter. But I am serious. Why does this place look so familiar?"

            "We've been here before you Slowpoke." Cinder dug me in the arm. "We passed this way on the way to Treeshroud Forest."

            At that moment, I remembered. It seemed like so long ago now, even though it wasn't. I had still been a Treecko then. Thinking back to Celebi's calculations about the passing time, I realized it hadn't been very long at all. Maybe a little over two weeks.

            I shook my head again. "If we had known there was another Time Gear here, we could have gotten it then, right when we passed by the first time."

            "Well, we're getting it now, and that's all that matters." Cinder pointed ahead. "Look! There it is!"

            She ran ahead, and Celebi, Trennivon, and I picked up the pace, going along after her. Cinder stopped us all at the mouth of the tunnel.

            "Great, more caves." I grumbled. The entrance to Crystal Cave opened up, the top jagged like teeth. Rugged, layered rock formations rose up on either side stretched up, coming to form a domed tunnel, rising out of the earth.

            "It _is_ called Crystal _Cave_ , Grovyle." Celebi pointed out. "You probably should have suspected that."

            "I know," I muttered. "I don't like caves."

            No one replied, so we stepped into the dark mouth of Crystal Cave.

 

***

            Just like in Boulder Quarry, it was nearly impossible to see anything in the darkness. Cinder lit a torch, like before, and the firelight swayed about above our heads as the girl raised the light up high.

            The cave ceiling was domed all the way around and continued down like a long, winding tunnel. The walls were occasionally interrupted by breaks in the stone, where the walls dipped down to form clear, shallow pools. Ripples in the water were still frozen in time where droplets had fallen into the water. 

            "Hello!" Cinder shouted down the tunnel. Her voice echoed: "Hello! o, o, o, o, o."

            "I don't think anyone's going to reply," I told her.

            "Doesn't mean I shouldn't try." Cinder answered, "Now, come on."

            We journeyed further into the depths of Crystal Cave, the rugged grey rock walls surrounding us all the way down. The path didn't vary often, and only wound around in twisting patterns. Pointed rocks hung down from the ceiling, and others jutted out from the walls. Cinder's torchlight shone along the top of the tunnel; the stalactites cast long shadows pointing further into the darkness. 

            "I was kind of looking forward to seeing actual crystals in Crystal Cave." Trennivon said suddenly. "Isn't that why it's called that, Crystal Cave, I mean?"

            "That _is_ strange." Celebi put in, and I thought about it too. I didn't notice until the Scyther said it, but he was right. We hadn't passed a single crystal.

            "I haven't been here before," Celebi went on, "But I'd assume there would be crystals here. It wouldn't be called that for nothing."

            "Do you think the fall of Temporal Tower had anything to do with it?" I asked the Time Traveler.

            I watched the pink Pokemon twirl around in the space above me for a bit. She was thinking, frowning and rubbing her chin. Small sparkles followed behind her, which flashed and disappeared as she moved. Celebi noticed I was looking at her, and she smiled and seemed to blush, but I couldn't be sure in the lowlight.

            "I don't see why time stopping would have anything to do with disappearing crystals." Celebi said, "But anything's possible."

            "Guys, you might want to see this." Cinder's voice came from further down the tunnel. I hadn't even noticed that she was gone. Celebi and I looked at each other and then followed Trennivon towards the sound of the girl's voice.

            And entering the new room, we gasped at what we saw.

            The walls were covered in crystals.  

            Oddly enough, the room seemed to be a dead end. It circled out and didn't seem to have a way forward. But I wan't concerned with that at the moment.

            Even though they were all dull and grey, the crystals still had their own kind of beauty. They were probably one of the prettier things I had seen in this dark world. Next to Celebi, of course. But I wasn't about to tell her that.

            The firelight shined off the fractals, shining from crystal to crystal like a dance. Even the floor below us seemed to hold a glassy reflection as if it was ice. I could see my complete reflection in it, but it was in black and white.

            It reminded me of what would happen if we didn't save the world.

            A sudden cracking sound caused every head to turn. We all looked at Cinder, who looked back confusedly.

            "Tell me that was your stomach." I said to her.

            "What?" she asked, and another crack echoed throughout the cavern.

            Trennivon, who had been kneeling for some reason, got up. "W- wh- what's going on?" his voice was shaking.

            "It's the floor!" Celebi said from above our heads. She pointed at the ground. "The floor is cracking!"

            Frantically, I looked around. The Time Traveler was right! Hairline fractures were appearing in the shiny floor.

            Suddenly more serious, Cinder shouted, "Okay! Nobody move!"

            I froze. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Trennivon did as well. Celebi remained hovering above us.

            "Okay." Cinder said again. "The crystal floor's breaking."

            "Got that, Captain Obvious." I said through clenched teeth.

            The girl ignored me. "If we all keep our weight even, we should be able to get back to the entrance over there." she pointed towards the tunnel we had came through.

            "But then how will we get to the Time Gear?" Trennivon asked, his eyes darting towards the floor.

            "There's probably some other tunnel we didn't see before." Cinder answered. "It'll be fine. We just have to-" she took a tentative step. Cinder exhaled once she was satisfied there were no more cracks appearing from her movement. "We just have to get back to that tunnel."

            "Celebi!" I exclaimed, getting a sudden epiphany. "Why don't you direct us where to go, since you're not on the ground?"

            "Great idea, Grovyle!" Celebi flew up to the middle of the domed celling. The sparkles flashing behind her were reflected in the grey crystals.

            The pink Pokemon took on a discerning look. "Alright, Cinder. Move slowly over towards Trennivon." Cinder started to move, and Celebi cried out, waving her hands, "No! No! Slower! You're getting close to the crack! It's right near where Trennivon is standing!"

            With Cinder on the other side of the room, I couldn't see very well, as she was holding the torch. I looked up at Celebi and asked, "Where do you want me to go?"

            Celebi frowned. "Um. Start going slowly over to Cinder. I think that'll be good."

            I nodded and got ready to move. I lifted my foot and carefully put it down on the reflecting surface. I could see my reflection doing the same as I was. It was interesting to watch, since I had only seen myself once before in the mirrored Dig TM disc when I had evolved. The grey reflected Grovyle mirrored my movements as I slowly crossed the room.

            Reflected in the crystal, I could see my friends. Cinder was looking on with concern as I moved, as was Celebi, hovering in the air above. Cinder kept shifting her weight, trying to stop the ground from breaking apart from right beneath our feet. Trennivon stood near the edge, his long claws dangerously close to the thin crystal below us.

            Everything was silent. But then, a sound rang out, crackling like thunder. The rest of the world seemed to be muted; the noise ripped through the sound barrier.

            Cracks splintered across the crystal sheet.

            And the mirror shattered.  

 

****

           


	10. Chapter 9

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Nine:

 

            Shards of crystal flew past us as we fell. Right as the crystal sheet had broken below us, I had noticed that Celebi flew down from up above. She dove down alongside Cinder, Trennivon, and I.

            "Celebi!" I yelled above my human friend and the Scyther's screaming. "Can't you do something?"

            The Time Traveler's wings buzzed rapidly as she flew to catch up with our descent. "You're all too heavy for me to carry!" she shouted, "And you're moving too fast for me to Teleport us all out of here!"

            "Then what are we gonna do?" Cinder yelled. "How does this tunnel end?!"

            "How am I supposed to know?" Celebi yelled back.

            "We passed pools of water on the way to the cave full of crystals." I still had to raise my voice, even though no one was screaming anymore. We were falling fast, and the rushing sensation was taking my voice away.

            "Wouldn't all that water be frozen in time?" Trennivon shouted in.

            "So we're just gonna land on the hard ground?" Cinder's yell was full of panic.

            "Sure hope not!" Celebi answered. She glanced down. "Look!"

            The whole conversation had taken place over a number of seconds. I just noticed at that moment that the crystal that we had broken though wasn't only part of the thin, mirror-like sheet. It covered the tunnel walls that we were falling down though. The thin blanket of crystal seemed to be melted over the rock, creating a smooth surface. And below us, the tunnel began to curve.

            "It's just like a slide!" I realized what Celebi was talking about.

            "Right!" the pink Pokemon answered. "Everybody! Brace for impact! See if you can slide up against the wall and use the momentum from the fall to keep moving forward!"

            "WHAT?" Everyone except for Celebi yelled back.

            "Use the tunnel as a slide!" Celebi shouted.

            I pushed off the wall closest to me and jumped through the air. Brushing up against the smooth, crystal wall, I kept one claw on the side, still falling downward. Cinder and Trennivon followed my lead.

            I grabbed Celebi's hand and smiled, despite the situation. "Woudln't wanna lose you." I said, and she smiled back.

            Finally, the tunnel curved, and my team of four slid down the wall and down the next tunnel.

            The tunnel slowly started to become an incline as we picked up speed. It also started widening out. Cinder was behind me when she shouted, "Look! Up ahead! The tunnel splits!"

            "Wha-!" I frantically looked to where she was pointing to, and saw that she was right. The crystal-covered tunnel forked further down the tunnel, and we were quickly approaching it.

            "Which way do we go?" Trennivon shouted out. No one answered.

            It was too late to decide. The passage split, and I was forced down the left way. I felt Celebi's hand wrenched from mine as she was sent down the right.

            "Celebi!" I yelled, and I could barely hear her answer, the shout of my name echoing down the other tunnel.

            Something suddenly bumped into me, and I turned around.

            "Cinder?"

            "Guess we're stuck together again, huh Grovyle?" my human friend replied. "I think I saw Trennivon go down the other tunnel right as I went down this one. 'Least your girlfriend won't be alone."

            "She's not my girlfriend." I muttered automatically.

            "Whatever you say, pal." Cinder said.

            Somehow, Cinder had kept a hold on her torch, and I saw that the crystal tunnel continued at a gentle incline, so we kept sliding down the passageway.

            I was about to ask Cinder where she thought this would let out, when the cave widened up ahead.

            _Finally! The slide ends!_ I thought in delight. But then, I found that I was wrong. The crystal covering ended so abruptly. That couldn't be the end of the tunnel. It would have spread out naturally. The crystal up ahead looks almost like it-

 _Oh no._  

            I dug the claws on my feet and one hand into the crystal and turned around, trying to slow down. Grooves appeared in the grey crystal as my claws raked down the smooth surface. I grabbed the back of Cinder's jacket with a free claw.

            "What are you doing?" Cinder yelled.

            "You'll thank me later!" I shouted. Finally, I gained enough friction to stop with a halt. Good timing too. One more second and-

            "WHAAAAA!" Cinder was dangling halfway over the ledge. Blackness opened up beneath her, and Arceus knew how deep that crevice was. The torch was flung out of Cinder's grasp and it tumbled over the edge, lighting up the canyon as it fell. The light blinked out of sight before we heard a sound that would say it hit the floor. The sound never came. Cinder scrambled back up and scurried back into the crystal tunnel.

            "Why?!" Cinder was breathing heavily and her word came out high-pitched. "Why did you NOT feel the need to TELL me about THAT HUGE LEDGE!"

            "You wouldn't have believed me." I said simply, brushing myself off. My claws ached a bit from that close scare, but they didn't seem to be damaged in any way.

            "You could have at least screamed CLIFF! or something!" Cinder cried out, but she seemed to be calming down.

            "Well, the important thing is that we survived-"

            "For now," Cinder cut in. Her legs were swung over the drop off.

            "But the tunnel's ended so..." I continued, ignoring my friend's cryptic comment. "Where do we go now?" I turned around, pointing back up the chute we had just slid down. "It's too steep and slick to climb back up and try to go down the other passage."

            "I think I might have seen another tunnel on our way down." Cinder pulled herself up, and I thought I saw a grimace flash across  her face for a second. I hoped the wild sliding endeavor hadn't caused her wound from the Sableye attack to get worse. I hadn't noticed it while we were going down the tunnel, but the scars I had obtained from the same battle had started to burn to a dull ache. Though the crystal-covered cave was smooth, the friction might have rubbed my skin raw.

            I walked behind Cinder so she couldn't see and wouldn't worry.

            Following Cinder around a corner, I saw how the tunnel we had slid down previously had a sort of 'cave' protruding from one side that I had missed on the way down. It must be a way forward!

            "Onwards and upwards?" Cinder asked, gesturing down the new passage.

            I leaned into the mouth of the tunnel. "Looks like we're going down, actually."

            "Whhatever," Cinder stepped forward and I went along after her.

            The cave we were now walking through was more like the original part of Crystal Cave that we had seen when we first entered. It was rocky and random crystals jutted out of the walls, though they were smaller and less impressive than the ones in the mirror-floor chamber. Also like before, time-frozen water pooled up between spikes of rock, ripples still visible from when the last drop fell before the Tower did.

            Cinder's feet made a slapping noise echo down the tunnel as we went along. Those hard things humans wear on their feet (Cinder had called them 'shoes') made different sounds depending on what Cinder stepped on: a slapping sound on the rock floor; a sort of ringing sound when she stepped on a pool of frozen water.

            Time passed (or didn't, actually) with few words shared between us. Only walking. I occasionally kept an eye on Cinder, finally remembering how she got bored easily. My human friend seemed to be entertaining herself by looking through different crystals at me. I saw her distorted face through the glass-like structures and tried to unsuccessfully hold back a laugh. Cinder grinned back at me through the crystal, her smile becoming wide and warped in the reflection.

            I quickly pushed the thought out of my mind: how for a second, Cinder's smile had looked like one of the Sableye's wicked grins. 

            As we moved along, and Cinder kept looking through crystals, I was thinking. _This tunnel seems to  be going on forever. I hope the Time Gear actually_ is _here..._

            But there was a way I could check. I only hoped it still worked.

            "Hey Cinder... do you think-"

            "Yeah, all the time, actually." Cinder answered, cutting me off.

            I groaned. "Could you be serious for a moment here? Please?"

            Cinder didn't reply, but looked at me like she was actually interested in what I had to say. I took a deep breath and continued. "Do you think the Time Gear's close? Or even here?" that didn't come out like I had wanted it to. I needed to get to the point. "I mean... I know your Dimensional Scream doesn't-"    

            'Wait." Cinder halted suddenly and turned to face me. "Were you about to say 'doesn't _work_? As in my Dimensional Scream _doesn't work?"_ she must have seen it on my face that that was indeed what I was about to say.

            Cinder looked confused. "Why would you think my ability wouldn't work anymore?"

            "Celebi told me," I said, "that the Dimensional Scream needs a trusted partner to be able to function. And I thought that because of the time at Boulder Quarry when I yelled at her for not getting the Time Gears and because of when we were in Foggy Forest and that Pinsir almost killed me and... well-" I sighed again, "I thought that... we weren't partners anymore."

            Cinder had been watching me in rapt silence the entire time. We still hadn't started moving again. She looked at me for a second longer and started... laughing?

            I said nothing as she did this. Eventually, she tried to speak through giggling. "Grovyle-! You're so-!" more laughing, "You're just-!" after a bit more of this, Cinder finally calmed down and stopped laughing enough to talk clearly.

            "Grovyle, you're so... dense!" but she said this with a smile on her face, so I really didn't know what to make of that comment. "If I had wanted to leave, I would have. And believe me, I have thought about it! You guys are _way_ too serious." Still, something in the way she said it made me wonder if she was kidding or not.

            "But no. I stayed." Cinder sat down against the cave wall, between some crystals. I sat in front of her, seeing no space on the wall and not wanting to get impaled. "Because... you guys need me. And not," she held out her hands, as if she could stop my thought from already going straight to only needing her for the Dimensional Scream. "Not because of my ability. I'm not _that_ conceited. It's because... because of what I just said. You three: you and Celebi and Trennivon are way too serious. I think that you all would be fighting and arguing... well a lot more than we do now."

            "So, yeah, that's why I stayed. And why I joke around all the time." Cinder was absentmindedly scribbling in the dirt floor. "And yes, I know our team fights. Especially you and I," she gave me a pointed look. "But... I think that's what being a team is all about. We fight, but we stick together."

            "And Grovyle," she looked at me again, completely serious. "No matter how much we fight and argue and disagree, you will always be my partner."

            I was so touched at her statement, that I was at a loss for words. Luckily, I didn't need them, for the next thing I knew, Cinder was pulling me into a bone-crushing hug.

            "Ah- ah, Cinder?" I managed to squeak out. "You- you're kinda squishing me!"

            "Oh! Sorry." The girl put me down. "So... are we good? Partner?" Cinder stuck out her hand.

            With no hesitation whatsoever, I took her offered hand and shook it. "Partner."

           

***

            A moment later, Cinder was searching for something to touch to start the Dimensional Scream.

            "How 'bout one of the crystals?" I suggested.

            Cinder shrugged and went with my suggestion. She reached out and grabbed one of the crystals that was pointing out from the wall. It was small and rugged with many flat fractal surfaces. The dying light from Cinder's torch reflected off these planes and made the clear, grey stone shine.

            My human friend touched it for a second and then let go. She lowered her arm and waited. 

            "Anything?" I asked tentatively.

            "N- ah!" Cinder started to reply, but then cried out, grabbing her head in pain. A moment later, she stood up straight, completely still and looking forward, unblinking.

            I waited for her to start falling forward, like she usually did. But it didn't happen as quickly. This must have been an abnormally long vision.

            There was a sharp intake of breath as Cinder finally did fall. She must have expected it, after having been through this multiple times before (though not recently). Her hands shot out in front of her and Cinder caught herself before hitting the ground.

            "What did you see?" I asked, coming over to help her up.

            "I didn't see anything." she must have seen my confused look, so she clarified. "I mean, I _heard_ something instead, like back at the entrance to Boulder Quarry."

            "Well?" I egged her on, impatiently. Like the times before, Cinder's statement here could affect our whole mission: if the Time Gear was in Crystal Cave or not was crucial information.

            "Sorry," Cinder was apologizing for some reason. "I mean, it's just... confusing. Here, I'll repeat what I heard best I can."

            Cinder cleared her throat. _"I see.. Of the three spiritual elements of knowledge, emotion, and willpower... Azelf is the Being of Willpower. Willpower is the motivation that drives us. It's a unifying power. To unify is to make one. So if the colors of the crystals were made one... the path should reveal itself. What is the color of Azelf's spirit? That is the question. Azelf lives at Shining Lake. Then Azelf's spirit must be affected by the crystals..."_

            When Cinder finished, she looked at me confusedly. "What the-... what the heck does any of that mean?" I asked desperately.   

            "I don't know!" Cinder cried. "But that's not even the weirdest part! It seemed like... I was saying it."

            "What?"

            "I mean-..." Cinder struggled, "I mean that the other times... that I heard only a voice, it was someone else talking. But I think that this time, I was hearing myself."

            "But that doesn't make any..." then I stopped myself. It _did_ make sense, or at least it _could._ "Time travel..." I muttered.

            Again, Cinder looked confused. "What do you mean?"

            I shook my head, trying to clear it of this weirdness. "I don't know if this is right, but I think that maybe you _did_ hear yourself talk. Just... in the past."

            The girl seemed to be putting it together. "You mean... after we get all the Time Gears here and go to the past to get them all again?"

            "Ugh," I rubbed my temples. _Time travel is so confusing._ "Yes... I think. You must say this in the past somehow and you're hearing it now with the Dimensional Scream."

            "Geez." I could tell Cinder was getting weirded-out as well. "I have no idea what any of that was about. I hope it doesn't stop us from getting the Gone Pebble now. My life must get even stranger than it is now in the past. Well, actually, its our future, probably. But it's in the past...? I- I just don't know anymore. This is Celebi's area. Let's just go."

            We only had to walk for a few steps before we came to a large clearing. It looked a lot like the mirror-floor chamber, as it was covered in crystals. Only one thing was different.

            In the middle of the room, stood one gigantic, towering crystal. A smaller, pointed crystal was on either side of it and even smaller crystals jutted out of the bottom and sides of the huge, middle crystal. The oddest part though, was that there was a jagged, gaping hole in the front of the ginormous crystal.

            "This must be the way forward." I muttered, squinting at it. _It shouldn't have been this easy. Boulder Quarry had a puzzle to solve, and I'm sure Foggy Forest had one, though we weren't able to get it. Could this riddle have already been cracked?_

            Cinder seemed to have been thinking the same thing. "Maybe it's like you said earlier about time travel. Do you think past me might have solved this?"

            "Or past me." I mumbled.

            "Yeah..." Cinder trailed off. "Perhaps this puzzle had something do to with the _'crystal-spirit-lake-color-crystal'_ stuff."

            "Well, we'll deal with whatever it is later..." I grumbled. "Or... in the past. Or-" I sighed in exasperation. "Whatever! Come on!"

            I was about to take a step forward, when I heard someone call out: "Grovyle!"

            Turning down the passage Cinder and I had just came from, I was surprised to see... Celebi and Trennivon coming out of the shadows!

            We all came up to meet each other; I hugged Celebi tightly, ignoring another pointed look from Cinder. Cinder appreciatively clapped Trennivon on the back, nearly knocking him over.

            "So what happened to you guys?" I asked once the happy greetings were finished. Celebi jumped into a fanciful tale about what happened once she and Trennivon had gotten separated from Cinder and I. The other tunnel had apparently led down a crystal-covered passage looking something like ice. The Time Traveler described nothing incredibly dangerous or exciting; just interesting. Huge crystal structures had surrounded Celebi and Trennivon as they moved forward, down winding corridors and wide cave tunnels. The crystal walls were apparently very tall and reflective.

            As Celebi finished, Cinder took up telling our side of the story, very incorrectly, might I add. Cinder described a giant, fire-filled volcano canyon as the cliff she almost fell over. I filled in some parts, correcting all of Cinder's imaginative escapades. When she got to the part about her Dimensional Scream, Celebi glanced at me discreetly. I nodded back, as if to say " _We worked it all out."_         

            As I had thought, Celebi did know more about the time traveling issue Cinder and I had discussed. It turned out that I had been right in saying that perhaps Cinder had said what she had heard in the Dimensional Scream in the past. She also cleared out something else that had been bothering me.

            "You mentioned that you heard the word 'Azelf' in your vision, right, Cinder?" Celebi asked.

            "Yeah," Cinder answered, "But I don't know what it means."

            "Azelf is a legendary Pokemon." Celebi stated. "I've heard that in the past, there were special Pokemon that guarded the Time Gears. All of them must have left after the Tower fell, though. We didn't see anything at Boulder Quarry that might have been protecting the Time Gear."

            "So Azelf was guarding the Time Gear in the past?" Trennivon clarified. I had almost forgotten that he was there, only now speaking for the first time.

            "I believe so." Celebi replied. "And others were guarding Time Gears in other places. As I said, it's lucky we don't have to deal with them now. But we'll have to once we go to the past."

            Trennivon paled, not seeming to like that idea. I wasn't too keen about it myself. But it was what we had to do.

            Cinder clapped her hands together once. "Well, shall we go on?"

 

****


	11. Chapter 10

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Ten: 

 

            The gaping hole in the crystal was just wide enough to slip through without getting cut by the sharp gems. After that, a roughly hewn tunnel continued downward until it seemed that we had arrived in a completely different area than the Crystal Cave before.

            It was wall-to-wall crystals. The rocky cave wall behind them was almost impossible to see through the translucent crystals.

            The light from Cinder's torch refracted through the gems and bounced around just as it had in the mirror-floor chamber. The girl held her light further out, and the way ahead was lit up.

            "Looks like its a straightaway from here, team." Cinder reported. "Do you think this goes all the way to the Time Gear?"

            "I don't know," I said truthfully. All of a sudden, a chill went down my spine. "But it does seem to be getting colder."

            "I've noticed that too." Celebi said, sounding a bit worried.

            "Is is just because we're so deep underground?" speculated Trennivon.

            "Perhaps..." Cinder trailed off. We were walking through the crystal tunnel, when Cinder suddenly came to a halt.

            "What is it?" I asked.

            "Did you not just see that?" Cinder was saying, pointing ahead at what seemed to be complete darkness.

            "What are we supposed to be looking at?" I squinted into the dark, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

            "Ah!" Cinder shouted and pointed in a different direction. "What about that! Did you see that?"

            "N-" I started, but then, I _did_ see something. A flash of blue appeared far down the tunnel. I gasped, "Cinder! I saw it! Down there!"

            "I told you!" Cinder said seriously. "Now come on! Maybe its the Time Gear!"

            Cinder started running down the cavern and clearly wasn't waiting for the rest of us.

            "Do you think it really _is_ the Time Gear?" I asked Celebi as I began running as well. Trennivon followed behind me, keeping up by buzzing his wings.

            "I don't know..." Celebi looked unsure. "The Gone Pebble we found last time had a greenish light, not blue."

            "So you saw it too-" I stopped mid-sentence.

            "What's wrong?" Celebi asked.

            "That's not the Time Gear." I picked up the pace. "Come on! Cinder might be in trouble!"

            With Celebi above and Trennivon beside me, we ran down the crystal tunnel after Cinder. Finally, it opened up into a clearing.

            The cave celling swooped up very high, signaling the end of the crystal-filled passage. Surrounding the new clearing were what seemed to be huge, tall crystals, but I couldn't be sure in the sparse light. Looking forward, I saw Cinder.

            I had been right. My friend was in danger!

            She was surrounded by three Pokemon. Two of them looked like rugged, levitating balls of ice. Black horns stuck out on top of them. Their large fangs were bared; growls sounding like rocks dragging across a mirror echoed throughout the area.   

            The third Pokemon was lithe and also floating. It was encased in a covering of snow and ice chunks stuck out at random angles. A purple face was visible below the snow. What appeared to be a red ribbon was tied around its waist.

            Cinder stood in the middle of the three, her sword drawn in one hand and the torch in the other. She waved the torch at her attackers, who seemed to retreat at the sight of the slow-moving flames.

            The purple-faced Pokemon screeched a high-pitched cry and attacked. Its mouth opened and from it came a blast of icy wind. The cold shards flew into the flames of Cinder's torch. With a flash and a puff of smoke, the flame was gone. The room was plunged into darkness. All I could see was the icy-blue light coming from Cinder's assailants' eyes. That light must have been what we saw in the crystal tunnel! These Pokemon were leading us into a trap!

            "This shouldn't be happening." Trennivon muttered. He was right. I remembered Celebi saying how Pokemon started leaving caves and mountains after the Tower fell for the lack of food. By all rights, these attackers shouldn't have been here.

            I looked back at the Scyther, and he seemed visibly shaken. His face was drained of color and he was shaking all over. He leaned against the cave wall for support and started sliding down it. He resigned and just ended up huddled on the ground.

            I understood why he was scared. I was scared as well. Those Pokemon attacking Cinder looked to be Ice Types for sure. All three of us, Trennivon, Celebi, and myself were weak against Ice.

            Type disadvantage or not, I still had to help Cinder.

            Celebi came along beside me, and the two of us ran towards Cinder. The sparkles that always followed the Time Traveler lit up the cavern slightly for a moment before disappearing. It was like watching Cinder get attacked in slow motion; seeing her for a second, getting blacked out, and then seeing that everything had moved once the light came back, but only for a moment.

            As Celebi and I approached closer and closer through the strobing light, Cinder was fighting valiantly on. In a moment of light, I saw that she had dropped the now-useless torch and was grasping her sword with both hands. One of the Glalie had been knocked away, a chunk of ice missing above its left eye.

            But the Time Traveler and I were just far enough away to be unable to prevent what happened next.

            In one flash of light, the Froslass was seen opening its mouth, readying an attack. Another flash; blue energy was forming into a sphere and crackling.

            Just before the light disappeared, the Froslass launched its Ice Beam.

            In the darkness, I tried to yell a warning, but it would have been useless. Celebi had stopped behind me and the sparkling light was not returning. Through the darkness, the only sound was a cry of intense pain from my human partner.

 

***

 

            I still didn't know exactly what happened to Cinder, but I didn't care. Those Pokemon that attacked her had to pay.

            Celebi was following beside me as I ran towards the ring of attackers. Once the sparkling strobe light started up again, I could see Cinder. She had taken a knee and was crouched near the ground, her head hanging down with a shadow covering her face.

            "You get the other Glalie; I'll get the Froslass!" I called to Celebi as we entered the fray.

            "Right!" she responded and shot off towards the remaining floating ball of dark ice.

            As she began attacking, I remembered that this was only the second time I had seen the Time Traveler in battle. In an offshoot of that thought, I realized that I had never seen Trennivon fight. At that moment, he was still covering in the entrance cave that lead to the clearing.

            "HEY!" I yelled angrily to the Froslass. I had to direct its attention away from Cinder. Luckily, my ploy worked.   

            The purple-faced Ice Pokemon turned towards me. Its light-blue-and-yellow eyes were narrowed in anger. I could tell it was corrupted. There would be no talking my way out of this one. Not that talking had ever worked before.

            I stalked around slowly, making the Froslass turn further away from Cinder. Finally, the Ice-Type had its back completely turned away from my human partner.

            _Now, my turn._

I ran as fast as I could, feeling the move I was using filling my body with power. I prepared to slam into the Froslass with my Quick Attack.

            But contact never happened.

            I suddenly felt an intense cold surrounding me. Once I opened my eyes, I found that the Froslass had vanished. Somehow, Cinder had appeared in front of me, not having moved since I last looked at her.

            _Did I somehow go_ through _the Froslass?_

I turned and found that, inexplicably, I was correct.

            The Froslass seemed to have been expecting that I would phase through it, for its eyes were narrowed in a sort of mocking way. Like it was laughing at me.

            I barely dodged a blast of icy wind that the Froslass blew at me, and then raised my claw in a fist, preparing to attack again.

            But again, I gasped as cold filled my claw in its Pound attack and it shot straight down through the Froslass.

            _How am I supposed to beat this thing?_

            I decided to unleash my entire arsenal of moves, hoping that at least one would work. A shot of ice grazed my shoulder, the shooting pain feeling like a burn. I gritted my teeth and leapt up, flipping in midair, and diving towards the ground.

            My claws moved the cave stone that was below like it was sand, thanks to my Dig attack. I tunneled underground, my claws were a blur of motion clearing rubble away.

            An instinct alerted me, and I sensed that the Froslass was above.

            I kicked downwards and shot up towards the surface. I broke up through the cave floor, finally slamming straight into the Froslass.

            The momentum forced the Ice Pokemon to go crashing into the floor. I stepped up in front of it, looking down at the Pokemon that was now lying in a newly-formed rut.

            A wail-like groan was emitting from the Froslass and it didn't seem to be entertaining the idea of getting up.

            "Get out." I growled, and the Ice-Type appeared to get the message. I was slightly surprised when it suddenly seemed to fade and then blink out of existence.   

            At that moment, I turned to see that Celebi had was winning her battle with the Glalie as well. She used her telekinetic ability to lift a number of sharp-looking rocks into the air. The rocks were bathed in a blue light and sent flying at the Glalie.

            The rocks smashed into the floating Ice Pokemon, getting stuck in its icy body and chipping of chunks of frozen material.

            Appearing to be out of strength, the Glalie wobbled in midair for a moment longer before crashing into the earth, knocked out.

            "You take care of that Froslass?" Celebi asked, flipping her antennae out of her eyes.   

            "Yeah," I said, breathing heavily. "It disappeared, though."

            I didn't check to see if Celebi had replied. Cinder was a bigger priority. She didn't seem to have moved at all from he spot where she got attacked.

            And as I finally got a good look at her, I realized why.

            My human partner was rooted to the spot, her foot encased in ice.

 

***

 

            "Cinder!" I yelled in panic. I had been calling out her name a lot recently.

            Cinder groaned and said, "They were leading us straight into a trap. Thanks for taking care of those rogues, Celebi, Grovyle."

            She looked down at her frozen foot and kind of shrugged nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a big deal. "But now here's this problem."

            "Light a torch!" Celebi exclaimed, coming over to hover above Cinder's head. "That'll melt the ice. And-" she looked back down the entrance tunnel. "Trennivon, come here!"

            The Scyther quickly walked over to where Cinder was kneeling in the clearing, with myself right next to her. I noticed with a start that Trennivon now sported some thin, bleeding clawmarks on the right side of his face. The light-green skin surrounding his cuts was swelling, though the marks did not look too deep.

            Trennivon must have noticed me looking, and said, "There was an enemy, a corrupt Pokemon in the entrance. It ran away, though."

            Now that Trennivon had arrived, Celebi continued, "Try using your claws to break the ice," she instructed. "But don't hit Cinder! Wouldn't want to make the situation worse than it already is!"

            Trennivon nodded solemnly and went to work. Cinder, too was busy. I had wondered for a while how she had been lighting her torches. It turned out that, out of the many things I didn't know about that she kept in her backpack, one of them was some flint and steel. She scraped one against the other a few times, and in a moment, a small fire sparked and lit up the end of a Stick.

            Cinder held the torch near the ice that was encasing her foot. Almost immediately, the ice reacted to the heat being near it and began to melt.

            There wasn't a lot of ice around Cinder. I didn't think it was enough to do any permanent damage to her. My parents had told me that because of the Tower's fall, the planet had gotten a lot colder. They said that areas that were cold before time stopped were even colder now, becoming harsh, frozen wildernesses and many Pokemon who went into the cold never came out. I'd heard of Pokemon getting stuck in ice that was so bad that their limbs would stop functioning if they didn't get help soon.

            But, thank Arceus, Cinder's case wasn't like the ones I had heard about. There was only enough ice encasing her foot to not allow her to move. I would think that, after she got warm again, my human friend would be fine.

            Or, at least, I hoped she would be.

            Trennivon's long, scythe-like claws finally broke through the covering of ice. Cinder lifted her foot out, and then sat on the ground, away from the spot where the ice still was.

            "Whew!" Cinder sounded relieved. "Thanks for not leaving me there, guys. And- ow!" she suddenly cringed and grabbed her foot. "That's gonna really hurt later. Hey, doctor Trennivon!" she waved the Scyther over, "What's your, uh, diagnosis on this?"

            Trennivon looked at her strangely for a moment, perhaps at the prospect of being called 'doctor', and than spoke: "I lived in the Southern Jungle, remember? I don't know a lot about ice wounds."

            "Maybe I can help." Celebi said, floating over. "There's a move I know called Heal Bell, which is good for problems like this."

            "Well?" Cinder sounded impatient. "Come on! We gotta go get to the Time Gear!"

            "Okay, okay!" the Time Traveler cried. She began using the move, closing her eyes like she was concentrating. I watched as a soft light began to glow around her. All of a sudden, the barely-visible, blue outline of a bell appeared above Celebi's head. It looked like it was made out of whatever telekinetic energy she was able to manipulate. A pleasant ringing sound filled the cavern, and then Celebi relaxed and looked at Cinder expectantly.

            "W-wow!" Cinder gasped. "It- it doesn't hurt anymore! And it's not even cold!" she looked up at Celebi, completely elated. "How'd you do that, Celebi?"

            Celebi giggled, embarrassed at the praise she was receiving. "It's just a Psychic ability I can do. I can heal Burns, Paralysis, and being Frozen among other things."

            "But it doesn't work on physical injuries, only Status Problems?" Trennivon asked.

            "Yep!" Celebi confirmed, "So I can't help with your-..." she trailed off, motioning at the cuts of the Scyther's cheek.

            "It's fine," Trennivon muttered and looked away. "Come on, lets go get the Time Gear."

            Thanks to Celebi's Heal Bell, Cinder was able to walk perfectly fine. She must have still been weakened by the intense cold, or perhaps her injury from the Sableye attack was still hurting her. Either way, Cinder was still out of breath by the time we had stopped walking.

            I had been unable to see in the darkness, but it turned out that I had been correct about the crystals surrounding the area. Finally, there was a break in the crystals, revealing a path leading further inward. The path stopped abruptly, circling out and ending with more tall, pointed crystals.

            "It's almost as if," I started, looking around, "These crystals are forming a barrier."

            "To protect the Time Gear." Celebi finished for me.

            "If there is one," Cinder added. She had stopped in the middle of the circular area that had spread out from the path. "We need to find some way to get past the crystals and see if there is a Gone Pebble on the other side. Once we've got that, I'll be able to make sure that there's really a Time Gear here or not."

            "Grovyle, try climbing over the crystals." Trennivon suggested.

            "Yeah," I agreed, "I'll try using my Dig to climb up and see if the Pebble is beyond this barrier."

            I walked over to the dull-colored crystals circling the clearing. They were taller than Cinder and also very wide. I saw my reflection in grayscale before readying my Dig attack.

            Using the move, I dug my claws into the crystal and started climbing up.

            _This would be a lot easier with my sticky feet._ I thought of how I scaled walls easily as a Treecko. Unfortunately, the hooks on the pads of my feet had disappeared with my evolution. So I had to Dig-climb up the crystal instead.

            Finally reaching the top of the crystal, I could see what laid beyond.

            A circular, flat surface was behind the protective crystal barrier. I glanced around and found that the path we had walked on had extended inward into the circular area that was covered by the flat surface.

            I saw that it reflected the cave ceiling above, and realized something.

            This was just like the mirror chamber.

            "Celebi!" I called, for some reason only remembering then that my friend could fly. "Come look at this!"

            The Time Traveler flew up beside me near the tips of the crystals. Her eyes widened as she looked around.

            "This looks like... a lake!" she exclaimed.

            "So... this could be the lake Cinder talked about from her Dimensional Scream!"

            Celebi nodded excitedly as I looked around at the frozen lake surrounding us. The same thin, crystal-mirror sheet that had made the ground in the mirror chamber seemed to be covering the lake. And then, I noticed something else.

            "Hey, Celebi." I pointed out to the middle of the lake. "What do you think that is?"

            There was a glowing radiance coming from the center of the lake. It seemed to be coming from below the crystal sheet.

            "That must be the Gone Pebble!" the Time Traver gasped. She looked at me, smiling. "We found it!"

            I felt excitement welling up inside of me. I yelled down to Cinder and Trennivon, "We found it! It's here!"

            "Good job!" Cinder called back. "Now go get it!"       

            I would only have to break through the crystal sheet at the area around the Gone Pebble to get to it. I pulled myself up and over the crystal, and then jumped down, landing on the reflective covering.

            But suddenly, there was a crack.

            I remembered to use Dig quick enough to latch on to the other side of the crystal that I had just jumped down from. A large crack had appeared in the covering. And below the crack was something I had never seen before.

            "Celebi," I said, and she looked over the top of the crystal I was clinging to. "There's _water_ down here!"

            The pink Pokemon flew down to where I was and looked at the break in the sheet. She hovered above the surface, her reflection bouncing up and down as she flew.

            "All water was frozen when Temporal Tower fell." I said, remembering what my parents had said. Water was very scarce to come by; the only way to get it was from fruit or Water-Type Pokemon. In fact, on my own journey, my team and I were only able to get water from the former source, and that alone was rare. I sometimes wondered how we were surviving.

            "How is it not frozen?" I asked, hoping Celebi had an answer.

            "Maybe the Gone Pebble's keeping it from becoming paralyzed." Celebi speculated.

            "Well, we'll have to take some of it with us once we get the Gone Pebble." I said, "Maybe Cinder has something to hold water with."

            I carefully stepped around the crack and onto the crystal surface beyond. Luckily, it held.

            "Come on," I called to the Time Traveler. "Let's go get the Gone Pebble!"

            Celebi was able to fly above me and point out where the sheet looked thinner or thicker. As I walked across it, the covering cracked in some places in stressful moments, but I was able to make my way across to the center of the lake.

            The pattern of green light surrounding the Gone Pebble was visible below the surface, looking like someone was shining a light through a piece of ice.

            I knelt down and prepared to use my Pound on the crystal sheet, until Celebi stopped me.

            "Be careful, Grovyle." she said, concern filling her eyes. "If you fell through, I don't know if I could use Teleport quickly enough. And I can't swim."

            "Well, that makes two of us." I said. I figured that few Pokemon living in this dark world knew how to swim, having no source of water that was not frozen to practice in. "It'll be fine. I'll just make a small hole, and then reach in and grab the Gone Pebble."

            "O-okay." Celebi still looked unsure.

            I was directly above the glowing Gone Pebble. Raising my claw in a fist, I felt the Pound attack begin, and I brought down my claw onto the crystal sheet.

            It didn't break immediately, my claw only forming a divot in the sheet, cracks surrounded the break and spread outwards. So I used Pound again.

            My claw broke through the mirror-sheet. A hole was formed, just large enough for me to reach through and grab the Gone Pebble-...

            But then, the cracks started spreading.

            There was nothing I could do. From where I was standing, fractures appeared in the crystal.

            Breaking sounds echoed through the cavern as Celebi and I watched the cracks spread. They didn't go far, not even back to the crystal barrier. They were only surrounding the place I was standing on. And then, they stopped.

            I wasted no time in trying to reach for the Gone Pebble. But it turned out that the one small movement I made was all that was needed.

            Just like it had before in the crystal chamber, the mirror broke.

            And I was plunged into the water.

 

***

            I sunk down and down, not moving at all.

            I had gasped once the sheet cracked open, right before I fell, so I could probably stay underwater for a few moments longer.

            But that wasn't going to stop me sinking.

            _Wha! What do I do? How do you swim?_

            Though my heart was beating rapidly and panic was rising in my chest, I was thinking at lightning pace. I didn't have much time, so everything had to be done quickly.

            Wildly flailing would probably do nothing. There had to be a pattern.

            I alternated from kicking with my feet and paddling upwards with my claws, and found that I was slowly moving upwards.

            But I wasn't fast enough!

            I could feel my lungs begin to burn from lack of air.

            Struggling to go upwards, I finally felt something above me. The covering of crystal! I had made it!

            But then, in a split second, I realized something else.

            I might have reached the sheet, but the hole I had fell through wasn't there!

            I was trapped beneath the surface!

            My vision started to fade around the edges. I tried to swim along the crystal sheet above me, trying to move forward.

            Through my fading vision, I thought I saw something glowing. It was pretty. I reached for it.

            And everything went white.

 

***


	12. Chapter 11

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Eleven:

 

            The next thing I knew, I was sitting up straight on the ground, hacking water out of my lungs.

            The concerned faces of Cinder, Celebi, and Trennivon were all looking at me. Once I returned the glance, they all seemed to brighten up.

            "Wha-! Wh- what happened?" I sputtered weakly between coughs.

            "You almost drowned!" Cinder exclaimed.

            Celebi's eyes were rimmed red, like she had been close to tears. "It was so lucky that you were able to swim up to the surface! If you had sunk any further..." she sniffed, "my Teleport wouldn't have been able to reach you and get you out of the water!"

            My chest was still burning, but I was able to get out, "I lost consciousness in the water. Did you use a Reviver Seed, or-..."

            "Yeah," Cinder answered, "Thank Arceus I was able to find one, too." she pointed with her thumb towards the Time Traveler. "Celebi was about to resort to, _ahem,_ drastic measures."

            At this comment, Celebi's pink complexion turned bright red. Her eyes widened and turned towards the ground when I tried to meet them.

            I had no idea what Cinder was talking about, but decided to drop the subject anyway for Celebi's sake.

            "Right." I cleared my throat, "Thank you guys for getting me out of the water, but now we've been through this whole ordeal and don't have the Gone Pebble!"    

            The smiles immediately fell from Cinder's and Celebi's faces. Trennivon had already been wearing a frown like he was in deep concentration.

            "Maybe we..." Celebi trailed off, asking Cinder for options. The girl muttered something vague in reply. I figured that she was out of ideas as well. I leaned back, putting my claws out behind me on the ground. It was then that I noticed that something was clenched in my grasp!  

            I uncurled my claw, and my friends seemed to notice that something was up, and stopped talking.

            Sitting in my palm was a six-sided grey stone.

            "I must have grabbed it..." I started to remember now. I had grabbed for something. Something that was glowing prettily. "I must have grabbed it before I blacked out!"

            Celebi gasped and hugged me, her arms thrown around my neck. I felt her face against mine. "That's so great, Grovyle! Now that all wasn't for nothing!" She let go of me and then blushed and looked down again before floating up next to Cinder once more.

            "Wait a sec," Cinder piped up, causing us all to face her. She held out her hand. "The Dimensional Scream. Let me make sure there really was a Time Gear here."

            I handed her the stone. As I watched Cinder close her eyes and start to concentrate, preparing for the Dimensional Scream, I remembered what Celebi had said once about Gone Pebbles. They had the power to bring back emotional memories when held.

            _Perhaps it only happened in the past._ I thought, _Now, they have a different purpose; holding places for Time Gears._

            I hadn't wanted to be reminded of my saddest memories. It would not do well in this situation, while so much was riding on Cinder and what she was about to say. Whether the Time Gear was really here in the past or not.

            _No. Don't remember. Don't remember the fire._

I had to concentrate hard to push the memory out of my mind. It had been so long since I had thought like that, and it was enough to make me want to shut down completely. Luckily, right then, Cinder came to after the Dimensional Scream, and I was given something else to focus on.

            "Wow." was all that Cinder said. I hadn't noticed that she had fell forward as usual, but she now picked herself up and sat next to me on the cave floor. Trennivon came up and across from Cinder, while Celebi hovered above the empty space in the circle.

            "What was that?" Trennivon asked. At that moment, I remembered how he had never seen Cinder use her ability before. Celebi began to explain, "When Cinder touches some object in the vicinity of a Time Gear, she can see visions of the past or future! It's an incredibly rare ability to have, and it's helped us find the other places that Time Gears would be in the past!"

            "So that's how you've been doing it." Trennivon looked thoughtful and was nodding. "What did you see, Cinder?"

            Cinder was rubbing her head, dust from the now-crumbled Gone Pebble trickling down to the ground from between her fingers. "It was just a vision this time, no voices. But it was _amazing!_ The whole cavern was lit up; light was reflecting off the lake; and the crystals! Oh, geez the _crystals!_ , blue and green and yellow and orange and purple and red! And other colors! I've never even seen some of them before! It was so _beautiful!"_

"And the Time Gear?" I asked hopefully, holding my breath.

            "It was right there," Cinder said, pointing at the wall of crystals behind us. "In the middle of the lake. But the crystal barrier wasn't there, and neither was the sheet covering the lake." she turned her eyes up, still reminiscing about what she had seen.

            "So the Time Gear was here in the past!" I exclaimed, standing up. "That means we only have to find one more!"

            "Technically, we still have to go back to Foggy Forest." Cinder said, standing as well. "But once we get the next Gone Pebble, the one in the Forest will be the last one! Speaking of which," she turned to Celebi, "Where is the next Time Gear supposed to be?"

            "The Northern Desert," the Time Traveler answered, and asked for Cinder to take out her map. Celebi opened the paper and motioned for us all to gather around once she laid it out on the floor.

            Celebi pointed to a light-colored spot in the northwest. "It's mainly crossing plains, so if we go now, we could probably make it to the outskirts in a number of hours if we go fast."

            I looked at the map as well. "That sounds good, but I think it'd be pushing it a bit. Why don't we get out of here and then stop for a rest around," I pointed to a green, field-looking space on the paper, "here?"

            "That's better." Celebi agreed, "I forgot we haven't had a chance to rest since before Apple Woods! Everything was moving too fast here, and we simply haven't had time."

            "Yes, yes that's all good and fine," Cinder added in suddenly, and we all turned to her. "But now we have one more problem."

            "What's that?" Trennivon asked.

            "How do we get out?"

            Celebi smiled slyly. "Leave that to me! Everyone gather around!"

            The remaining three of us circled around the Time Traveler. A light began to glow around Celebi and she exclaimed, "Time to travel!"

            The light grew brighter and a ringing sound filled the room.

            And we disappeared.

 

***

 

            The light faded and we found ourselves standing right outside where we had entered Crystal Cave.

            "That," I said, facing Celebi, "will never not be helpful."

            The pink Pokemon blushed shyly at my comment.

            Cinder checked our supplies once more before we started off. We still had all our various Seeds, rocks, and Thorns, but just as before in the mountains, we had hardly any food. Only the few small, shriveled Berries that we had found near Mt. Bristle remained in the girl's backpack.

            "We'll find some more," I said, as much to reassure myself as to do the same for her. I had grown used to the constant, dull hunger pain in my belly. But that didn't mean any of us could hold out forever.

            On that depressing note, we started west. The flattest land we had crossed so far spread out in front of us, only occasionally interrupted by piles of rocks or groups of trees. The sky seemed to touch the ground, ever expanding onwards; the horizon was a flat line as gray met gray. The blades of grass were all bent over, frozen still from the last breeze that had bowed them.

            Following behind Cinder, with Celebi and Trennivon picking up the rear, our team traveled on a dirt path that ran through the middle of the field. As we walked, I tried to imagine what the wind that had been blowing down the grass had felt like. But, as usual, I couldn't.

            _What will the wind feel like?_ I wondered as we traveled, _What will warmth from the sun be like? What will it be like to always have enough food?_   

            "Wh- whoa!" Cinder cried out suddenly. She shot out one arm to the side, stopping me in my tracks and knocking the breath out of my chest.

            "Sorry, Grovyle," Cinder grinned and helped me up, "But it's-..." she pointed ahead, and I followed her gaze.

            Celebi and Trennivon stopped behind us, and I heard them gasp. I did as well.

            The lend in front of us was cracked. A huge crevice opened up in the earth. Boulders that had been falling were frozen in midair. Gnarled trees lined the edges of the canyon, some tipping over. If time had started up again right at that moment, they would be falling down into the fissure.

            I carefully went to the edge of the canyon and looked down. Startlingly, it did not continue very deeply. The earthquake that had caused this crack to appear in the ground must have just started as Temporal Tower crumbled.

            That gave me an idea.

            "Let's go down and rest in the crevice." I said to the rest of my team. "Once we're all good and rested again, we can climb up the other side and get going on to the desert."

            Celebi looked apprehensive. "But if we get attacked while we're down there, there'll be no place to run to." she lowered her voice and added, "What about the Sableye?"

            "It'll be fine!" Cinder said, already starting to climb down. "I hardly saw the crack until it was right in front of me!  And plus, we haven't seen them since the Southern Jungle. Maybe they just gave up. Now, come on!"

            I grabbed onto the rocky walls of the fissure and began to make my way down the side. It didn't take too long to get to the bottom. The floor of the crevice didn't flatten out, so it was difficult to walk on, but there were a few ledges that were good for sitting on. Cinder laid out her backpack on one and started gathering up some wood to make a fire.

            Within minutes, the fire was started, and its orange light filled the canyon. Cinder fell asleep almost immediately. Trennivon was laying on his back stiffly on a ledge somewhat above Cinder's. I was on a ledge across the crevice from his and could only see part of his light green form.

            But I couldn't sleep. Something Cinder had said earlier was running around in my head. It was about the Sableye. She was right about us not having seen them since way back in the Southern Jungle when we had first met Trennivon.

            _Why is that? Dialga wouldn't have just given up on getting rid of those who tried to change the future. But what other explanation is there for not getting attacked? We haven't even been attacked by many_ other _Pokemon, except for those Ice-Types in Crystal Cave._

I suppose I shouldn't have been complaining. It was lucky that we didn't have Dialga's baddies to deal with. One less problem to deal with. Now we only had to get the last two Gone Pebbles and travel through time to the past.

            _Yeah. That won't be hard at all,_ I thought sardonically.

            How even _were_ we getting to the past? I thought I had some vague memory from reading it in the book at the Guild with Cinder when we first met, but I couldn't remember exactly.

            It was a good thing we had our resident Time Traveler.

            "Celebi?" I whispered, afraid of waking anyone. "Are you awake? Celebi?" I raised my voice a bit.

            "Yes, Grovyle?" Celebi's head suddenly appeared above me. I looked up, seeing her upside-down. It turned out that she had been on the ledge above mine the whole time.

            "Can I ask you something?" I inquired. The pink Pokemon replied with a happy, "Sure!" and floated down onto my ledge. We sat with our backs against the side of the crevice, facing the light of the dying fire.

            I watched the flames grow smaller and smaller, almost going out. I hadn't told Cinder, but, though it was helpful, I was scared every time she lit a fire for a torch or otherwise. It reminded me of...

            _The ropes burning up... purple fire in the hands of the floating skull... the giant monster's roar..._

            "What did you need, Grovyle?" Celebi's voice brought me back to the real world. She sounded concerned; I must have been unresponsive for a while.

            "Time travel!" I blurted out, trying to push the horrible memories out of my head. "How are we-... we... how are we... time traveling?"

            Lines of worry were etched onto Celebi's face. She didn't answer my question right away. "Are you alright?"

            "Yes," I said, too quickly.

            Celebi noticed and started, even more concerned, "I don't think you are. Wh- what's wrong, Grovyle?"

            I looked down, pulling my knees to my chest. My voice was low as I whispered, "There's nothing you can do... It's already happened."

            "I want to help you." Celebi persisted.

            "I don't know how you can."

            "I can do something." the Time Traveler surprised me by saying this. "If you're willing to let me."

            I lifted my head and looked at her. "What?"

            "My Psychic abilities and ability to time travel can allow me to see other's memories." Celebi explained gently. "If something that happened to you in the past is still affecting you now, perhaps if you were to have someone to share your pain with, well-..." her turquoise eyes locked with mine. "I only want to help you, Grovyle."

            This was a new development for me. Celebi was certainly a lot more powerful than she let on.

            But did she really need to see my memories? It wasn't an embarrassing memory, so at least I had that going for me. But it was horrible. Terrifying. Would Celebi be able to handle that? I could hardly deal with it myself.

            I thought back to when I had met Henna the Noctowl back in Foggy Forest. Her experiences were just as horrifying, but she hadn't let the horrors of her past seep into her present. She had let go of the past, dealing only with what was happening now.

            I couldn't let what happened in my past get in the way of what my future was going to be.

            Perhaps sharing my burden with Celebi would be the first step of letting go of the past.

            "Okay," I said to the Time Traveler, taking a deep breath. "You can do it. I'm ready."

            Celebi nodded. "Alright. Now, I know it's hard, but I need you to focus on the memory that you want me to see. All of it." Celebi closed her eyes, as did I. I felt warmth course through my claw as she grabbed hold of it.

            There was silence.

            And I remembered.

            The memory played out in my head as it always did: I heard the monster's roar, the Sableye's demonic laughter.

            I saw the stakes and-

            No.

            It was too much.

            I knew what would happen next.

            And I didn't want to see it again.

            I cringed, forcing the memory out of my mind. But then, Celebi's hand squeezed mine.

            "No," she whispered, "You have to face this, Grovyle. You have to. _Remember_. Don't stop. Let it flow."

            My face was scrunched up, my eyes closed tight. I didn't want to. But she was right. I had to do this. It was the only way.

            I tried again.

            The memory started.

            The gigantic monster, the wicked laughter-

            _The pillars_.

            I wanted to end it. I wanted to end it again.

            But I _had_ to do this.

            I saw my parents tied to the stakes, their hard work burnt away.

            Demonic laughter seemed garbled in the memory. The Sableye furiously attacked, slashing and cutting at their helpless victims.

            The ropes broke, an unknown, unused escape.

            The monster called forth the floating figure, a red ball of light bouncing in its skull. Purple flames surrounded its hands.

            The fire was cast forward, moving towards the ropes.

            The ropes holding my parents ignited with fire.

            The scene stopped there; I remembered closing my eyes.

            But it was over.

            It was done.

            I opened my eyes again to face Celebi. I saw stains from tears that had run down her cheeks. She looked up at me, her eyes full of sadness. "Grovyle- I... I had no idea." I said nothing in reply.

            "You must've really loved them, your parents, I mean." Celebi continued. "To have taken up their resolve to change the future."

            "They believed," I breathed, only loud enough for Celebi to barely hear. "that if you are to live a shining life, it wouldn't matter if you weren't a part of the future you were working towards. It would be a better life for everyone else."

            "Then shouldn't you start believing that as well?" Celebi countered.

            "But I-" I was caught off guard, "I've told you that I do. What do you mean?"

            "Your parents were working towards a better future," the Time Traveler had now taken both of my hands in hers. "They knew that even if they disappeared, time would have been rewritten and this planet would've never became paralyzed. Even if they weren't here, the future would still be better for everyone else that came after them."

            "Yes," I said, still not quite understanding, "You told me that if we change the future, that we would disappear. I've accepted that, just like my parents did."

            "But Grovyle," Celebi sighed, "Don't you see that if you keep holding on to this memory, your parents' shining lives were lost in vain? They knew the consequences, and would have had to disappear either way, even if the events that happened in your past hadn't happened.

            "But now, their mission has passed on to you. Even if, in the end, we are going to disappear. The only thing you can do now is to survive for the future they were trying to make."

              I was completely speechless as Celebi went on. "I've thought about what you said back in the Southern Jungle, and I've accepted it as well. I'm willing to give my life for a better future."

            "Thank you, Celebi." I said, finally. "I-... I feel the same. Thank you for all this. Thank you for reminding me of why I'm doing this. It's for a better future. And I _am_ willing to lay my life on the line for that cause."

 

***


	13. Chapter 12

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Twelve:

 

            We woke up a few hours later and Cinder started gathering her supplies and a few dried-up Berries that were scattered around the canyon floor, while Trennivon hopped down from the ledge he had been sleeping on. I noticed that there were dark circles under his eyes, right above the thin clawmarks that were still healing from when we were in Crystal Cave. Perhaps the Scyther hadn't slept well, or he had nightmares. Like Cinder, I didn't know anything about Trennivon's past, except for the fact that he had lived in the Southern Jungle. Maybe some traumatic event had happened to him before we met. It was common in this world of darkness.

            Celebi fluttered down from above me and went to help Cinder, and it struck me that I hadn't asked her what I had really wanted to know the night before.

            "We only have two Time Gears left to locate," I said, picking up two small Pecha Berries. I handed one to Cinder and bit off the end of the other. It was sweeter than an Oran or a Rawst, but still dehydrated, especially because we were so close to a desert. "Once we get them, how exactly are we getting to the past?"

            "We'll use the Passage of Time," Celebi said nonchalantly, like I was supposed to know what that was.

            But still, what she said did sound familiar. I had a vague memory of reading about something like that somewhere.

            That's it! It was back at the guild  when I had first met Cinder! Celebi's Time Travel abilities had been explained in that book: she could travel through time for short distances at will, but for trips that were longer, she needed to use something called the Passage of Time. Only, the book didn't explain exactly what the Passage was.

            "What's the Passage of Time?" Trennivon asked, before I could get to it.

            "Its kind of like a portal," Celebi explained. "If the fall of Temporal Tower had only happened a few years ago, I could just use my regular time traveling power to get us there, but it didn't. It was over thirty years ago, actually."

            It got quiet for a moment after that. Cinder stopped walking around and sort of stood there with a blank expression on her face.

            Celebi cleared her throat, "But since it happened so long ago, we have to use the Passage of Time to get to the past."

            "Is it in a specific place, or do you just use your power to make it wherever you are?" Trennivon seemed interested.

            "It takes a lot of power to make a Passage, so I have a few in different places, like in Dusk Forest."

            "So we'll have to go all the way back to Dusk Forest once we've gotten the last Time Gear in Foggy Forest?" I asked.

            "No, there's one near Foggy Forest too." Celebi answered. "It's close enough to the forest that we'll be able to get to the Passage right after we collect the last Time Gear."

            "But where exactly?" Trennivon pushed on, "You know, in case we get lost again in the fog."

            Celebi explained, "It's in a ruin to the east of forest." 

            Trennivon nodded, "Okay, I understand now."

            "Here's something I don't understand," Cinder piped up, finally finished packing. "If you know where all the Time Gears are, how come we have to go collect them all here and then go to the past? Why don't we go back now and get the Time Gears with all your Time-Traveler-y knowledge?"

            I had been wondering that as well, and didn't expect Celebi to have a quick answer to Cinder's question. To my surprise, the Time Traveler responded a moment later.

            "I only know where the Time Gears are in this future." Celebi cleared it up. "They might have been in different places in the past. That's why your Dimensional Scream ability is so helpful, Cinder. Only you can make sure that the Time Gears really were there in the past."

            "That makes it sound so much more dramatic than it actually is." Cinder stated. As usual, the rest of us ignored her little side-comments. With that, Cinder heaved up her backpack and we started climbing up and out of the gorge. 

                       The gray land continued to get flatter and flatter, with rocks dotting the horizon only occasionally. I had never seen so much land in front of me before; almost unending in every direction. Turning my head around and looking back, the points of Mt. Bristle were barely visible above the hills behind us.

                       Blades of grass were still bent over, frozen in time. They didn't move when we stepped on them; didn't sway out of the way like they probably would have in the past. This became sort of an obstacle, and my team had to hike over the taller grasses and could only walk normally on the shorter grass.

                       I stared in shock at what cam next.

                       A long line shot down from the sky, fracturing off in different directions. It seemed to come all the way down from the clouds.

                       "Lightning!" Celebi gasped behind me. "This place used to be called Amp Plains." She pointed around for us to look. Dark gray rocks popped up through the grass. "Tribes of Electric-Type Pokemon used to live here, but they left after the Tower fell. Now, it's known as the Dark Wasteland."

                       Finally, after going through fields, dodging rocks, and lightning strikes frozen in time trying to reach the earth, something different materialized under my feet that wasn't grass.

                       It was sand.

                       We had arrived at the Northern Desert.

 

***

                       "Whoa," Cinder came up behind me.

                       The Northern Desert stretched out as far ahead as the previous plains had. Sand dunes sloped up and down, making the horizon not a flat as the Dark Wasteland had been. There were also some tall rock formations, a bit like the layered sandstone plateaus that had been near the guild.

                       "Check this out!" Cinder said a moment after we stepped into the desert. She called the rest of us over to something she had found.

                       The girl was reaching out her hand in front of her, touching something in the air. As I got closer, it seemed to be a clump of scattered sand that was floating in midair!

                       "A sandstorm must have been going on when time stopped!" Cinder reasoned. "So the sand's just suspended in the air!" She tried to reach through the floating sand, but, like the grass, it was stuck in place and didn't move once Cinder tried to touch it.

                       "So!" Cinder gave up playing with the sand and turned to the rest of us. "Where's the Time Gear?"

                       "I think it should be further in." Celebi said. "The good news is that there shouldn't be many rogue Pokemon out here, already being a barren desert and all."

                       The Time Traveler turned out to be, of course, correct in that statement. There were no other Pokemon in the desert except for us. It was eerily quiet, the only sound was our feet on the sand. None of the sand grains moved when we stepped on them, so it sounded like stepping on a flat surface, even  though it wasn't one.

                       "Why do you think we haven't seen any Sableye since the Southern Jungle?" I asked Celebi as we trekked through the sand.

                       "I don't actually know." Celebi frowned. She was hovering above me as the rest of us walked. Cinder was ahead of us, trying to get Trennivon to play games with her. "He can't not know we're doing this; it's a Time Traveler thing to be linked to the Time Gears. I don't understand why he hasn't sent anyone after us."

                       "I don't get that either," I agreed. "My parents were always on the run from him and those Sableye."

                       "And it's not in Diagla's nature to give up, not in the state he's in."

                       "What do you mean?" I asked.

                       Celebi, as usual, explained further. "Dialga has always been linked to Temporal Tower, it's a power source for him and his abilities. Kind of like my Passage of Time, he uses it for large time jumps. But he is more linked to the Tower than I am to my Passages."

                       "So when the Tower fell..." I trailed off.

                       "Dialga fell with it." Celebi shook her head. "He's lost all sense of reason, being consumed by this dark, unmoving future. And, of course, you already know, Dialga gets rid of anyone who tries to change the future."

                       "What about Temporal Tower?" I asked quickly, to change the subject. "Everyone knows it crumbled and fell, but what actually happened to it? Do you know?"

                        "It used to be in a Hidden Land somewhere, before time stopped." The Time Traveler was lazily drifting about above me. "I don't know where, but the Tower actually fell out of the sky when it crumbled. It crashed into the ground near the west coast I think. No one goes there, but in theory, if Diagla wasn't there, we could get in."

                       "In case we ever have a reason to go and get him," I muttered sarcastically. "Yeah, I don't think I could _ever_ find a reason to want to do that."

                       I walked in silence for a moment, watching Cinder and Trennivon. The girl was trying to play catch with a rock she had found, but unfortunately, Trennivon couldn't catch anything with his large claws.

                       "So Temporal Tower will be harder to get to in the past, wont it?" I said to Celebi to break the quiet.

                       "Yeah, it will. We'll have to get information on how to get there once we get to the past and collect the Time Gears."

                       I nodded in agreement, and then noticed that Cinder had stopped walking.

                       We had come to a large clearing. Rocks surrounded the area, the middle was full of sand. There seemed to be circular patterns in the sand in front of us, sprawling out in the clear plane.

                       "This seems to be as far as we can go." Cinder observed. "Maybe the Time Gear is around here somewhere."

                       "I don't think it'd be out in plain sight." I countered.

                       "It was kind of like that in Treeshroud Forest." Cinder pointed out.

                       I hated to admit she was right, so I didn't.

                       "This Time Gear was supposed to be another lake, like the one in Crystal Cave." Celebi reminded us, floating out over the spiraling sand. "It doesn't look like there's a lake around here."

                       Cinder stepped out into the sandy clearing. "Well, maybe you're wr- WAHHHAH!" Cinder didn't get to finish her statement, as she had slipped and fell into one of the circling sand pits.

                       "Are you okay, Cinder?" I called from the edge.

                       "Yeah!" Cinder yelled back. "But," she looked to be struggling. "I think my foot's stuck!"

                       I slid down the inclined side of the sand pit, down towards Cinder. I grabbed onto her and tried to help her out, but she seemed to be stuck fast.

                       "Oh no! It looks like we're gonna have to," I grinned, "Saw your leg off!"

                       "No don't!" Cinder gasped in mock panic, "That's like, my second favorite leg!"

                       "Okay, okay. No more jokes. How are we going to get you out of here?" I tried to move around to get to Cinder's other side, but found that I couldn't move either!

                       "Ah! Cinder! I'm stuck too!" I yelped in panic.

                       "Oh no!" Cinder cried. She yelled up to our friends, "Celebi! Trennivon! Help! We're stuck!"

                       Celebi appeared, floating above us, and Trennivon leaned over the edge, careful not to fall in.

                       "Oh! That's it! Good job!" Celebi looked happy rather than worried.

                       "How is _this_ ," Cinder gestured at the sand we were currently stuck in, "A _good_ thing?" the only good thing was that we weren't sinking any deeper. Maybe the stopped time had something to do with that.

                       "I was just thinking about where the Time Gear could be," Celebbi said, "And I thought that, since there's always a trick to getting at these things, that maybe these frozen quicksand pits held the key! And thanks to you guys, it turns out I'm right!"

                       "So you want us to get sucked down into the sand?" Cinder didn't sound too sure. "What if you're wrong?"

                       "No, of course not!" Celebi laughed, "I'm gonna Teleport down there, see if there really is a cave or whatever under there, and then come back to get you all."

                       A bright light flashed and Celebi was gone before Cinder and I could say otherwise.

                       The remaining three of us waited awkwardly for the Time Traveler to return. Cinder drummed her fingers on the sand and sighed dramatically, trying to get us to notice. Trennivon and I ignored her.

                       A moment later a light flashed and Celebi reappeared.

                       "Well?" Trennivon asked.

                       "Theres a whole cave system down there! That's where I'd bet the Time Gear is!" Celebi turned to Cinder, who was still stuck in the sand with me, "Good job, Cinder!"

                       "Thanks," Cinder said, not wanting to pass up a moment of glory (though she didn't look too glorified with her foot stuck in the sand). "I totally didn't do that on accident, what are you talking about?"

                       Celebi's bright Teleportation light gathered around our four team members, and the next thing I knew, I was out of the sand, and standing on a solid rock ground.

                       As far as I could tell, it was rock. I couldn't see a thing, it was completely dark wherever we had warped to.

                       "How 'bout a light, Cinder?" Trennivon's voice came from somewhere behind me.

                       There was a scratching sound, and then a crack as orange light appeared and Cinder lit a torch.

                       I could see a swooping cave ceiling above us, a bit like the one in the Limestone Cavern back in the Southern Jungle. Piles of sand were on all sides of us, arranged in a conical stile, like the grains had fell from up above. Which, of course, they had.

                       "Okay, well, that worked!" Cinder was looking around as well. "So! The Time Gear awaits!" she brandished her torch like she usually did with her sword. "Onwards!"

                       With that, we followed her further into the cave. As per some strange circumstance, there were no rogue Pokemon for us to fight. I knew it was better that way, but I would have liked to test my skills in a real fight instead of just training. Cinder and I had sometimes sparred against each other, my attacks against her sword, when our team stopped for a rest, just in case we ever had to fight. It wasn't the same though.

                       There wasn't anything incredibly interesting in this Quicksand Cave. I had already seen enough caves to suit me for a lifetime, and this one didn't have anything of note. Just sand on the ground and the occasional boulder. At least Crystal Cave had, well, crystals.

                       The only thing that made this cave different from any of the others we went to was how horrendously _long_ it was. It seemed like we had been walking for hours. And we didn't seem to get getting anywhere. Cinder's torch went out after a while, and we had to wait in darkness for the girl to light another.

                       In the darkness, I thought I saw a shape move.

                       _No, it was nothing. Probably Trennivon or Celebi moving around._

The rest of the time we were walking though, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being followed.

                       I looked over at my friends. Celebi and Cinder didn't seem to notice, or else they hadn't been bothered.

                       But Trennivon looked shaken as well. His eyes were wide, glancing around.

                       _Is there someone else here?_

                       Still, as we continued, there were no more signs of strange movement.

                       _Maybe it was just nothing. A shadow from the torchlight. Yes. That must be it. Nothing else. Just a shadow._

                       The pathway finally narrowed and formed into an entrance that led to another room.

                       "Finally!" Cinder cried out. "My feet were starting to hurt!"

                       A huge lake was spread out in front of us.

 

***

 

                       We walked forward and up to the edge of the lake. There, shining out in the middle, was a dull, green radiance.

                       "There's the Gone Pebble!" Cinder pointed out to it. "Who wants to go get it?" I was about to raise my claw to voulenteer, but Cinder stopped me saying, "Not you, Grovyle. Your last swimming incident didn't go too well."

                       I huffed at her.

                       "I'll do it!" Celebi offered cheerily. Sparkles flashed as she flew out to the middle of the lake. I watched as she reached into the water. It must have been kept from being frozen like the water had been in Crystal Cave. The green light disappeared, making the whole cave seem less bright. Celebi clutched the hexagonal stone to her chest and flew back towards us, her wings beating up and down.

                       "That was certainly a lot easier than last time." Celebi said once she had reached us.

                       "The fourth Time Gear," I mumbled. "Care to tell us if that's true, Cinder?"

                       "Sure!" Cinder said, reaching for the stone, "I'll-"

                       Cinder was cut off by another voice, "That won't be necessary."

                       Beside me, I could almost feel Trennivon drop a shade in paleness. He was shaking in fear. I was about to do the same.

                       In the darkness of the cave entrance we had come thorough to get to the lake, something appeared through the black.

                       A floating red light.

                      

***


	14. Chapter 13

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Thirteen:

 

                       No.

                       It couldn't be.

                       But it was.

                       The red light moved closer and closer, a body eventually materializing around it as it floated out of the darkness.

                       And just like before, it had changed.

                       He was a huge, hovering mass of dark gray covered in yellow lines, with a more prominent jagged line across his belly. He had a sort of wisp-like tail and a lighter gray head with protrusions on both sides of his neck making a kind of ruff.

                       And the one red eye still bounced around in his head like a single ember.

                       Again, he had changed, but he was still the same.

                       Nothing had changed about what this Pokemon had done.

                       "What do you want?" I asked, hoping my voice didn't betray how terrified I was. I noticed that, behind me, Cinder was starting to pull out her sword. A dim, blue, light began to glow around Celebi's hands.

                       They were getting ready to fight.

                       Except for Trennivon, who was shrinking behind me, despite being much larger than I was. He was clearly just as scared of this Pokemon as I was. But I wasn't about to let that show.

                       But then, Dusknoir raised his hands. Celebi's Psychic light grew brighter, and Cinder stepped forward once, holding her blade close. Was this Pokemon preparing an attack?

                       His hands still extended forward, Dusknoir's deep voice rumbled again, "I come in peace."

                       Thrown completely off guard, the tip of Cinder's sword swung down and dug into the sand ground with a muffled crunch. She lifted it back up again, and braced it behind her with both hands grasping the hilt.

                       "Yeah, right." Cinder huffed. "And I'm a two-headed Caterpie. Why are you really here? Are you gonna fight or not, 'cause I'm ready! I'll take you on! Let's go! You and me!"

                       Celebi and I glanced at each other. I could tell that she was just as confused as I was. It was hard to tell if this Dusknoir was telling the truth or not. We knew him to be in league with Dialga, but why then was he not attacking and claiming peace?

                       "My words are sincere." Dusknoir was saying. He spread his hands, "As you can see, I come without the Sableye."

                       "That doesn't mean you won't attack us." I was frowning, disliking this Pokemon more and more. "Why should we trust you? If you're not here to attack us, why are you here?"

                       "Master Dialga has sent me." Dusknoir's red eye moved in his head, looking at each of us in turn. Behind me, Trennivon ducked out of the way, trying not to be seen as the floating red light lingered on me.

                       "What did Dialga send you for?" Celebi asked, angrily. "If he wants you to get rid of us, believe me, he's gonna have to try harder than that."

                       "Master Dialga has sent me with a message." Dusknoir stated.

                       "Yeah?" Cinder hefted up her sword. She hadn't put it away yet, still wary of Dusknoir. "And what's that?"

                       "Master Dialga knows you are trying to change the future." Dusknoir said, "Don't believe that he doesn't. Master Dialga sees all that happens in this world."

                       _Then why hasn't he sent Dusknoir or the Sableye earlier than this?_ I thought, _If Dialga has known this whole time, why are we only seeing Dusknoir now?_

But Dusknoir didn't elaborate on this subject, and continued. "Master Dialga has sent me with a warning: If you keep trying to change the future, you will be eliminated."

                       "Do you think we already don't know that?" Cinder yelled, full of rage. "No one's ever gotten as far as we have 'cause Dialga's killed anyone who went against him. You know what I say to that?"

                       Cinder brandished her sword at Dusknoir. "Bring. It. On."

                       But the Ghost-Type seemed unfazed. He focused his gaze on Cinder. "Do you know why Master Dialga kills anyone who tries to change the future?"

                       "'Cause he's a raving lunatic?" Cinder suggested, not having moved her sword from it's place out in front of her.

                       "Do you really not know?" Dusknoir chuckled darkly. He gestured to Celebi, Trennivon, and I. We were all behind the girl now; Cinder had stepped up towards Dusknoir. "Have they really not told you what happens to those who change the future?"

                       "What-? Cinder finally lowered her sword in shock. "What are you-?"

                       I could tell that Dusknoir was enjoying this. He had Cinder right where he wanted her. He had the advantage now.

                       I still hadn't told my friend. My best friend. I still hadn't told her what would happen if we succeeded.

                       Dusknoir glared down at Cinder. "If you were to change the future, this dark world would not exist anymore."

                       "That's kind of the point." Cinder was still able to put in a sarcastic comment, despite the situation.

                       The Ghost-Type seemed to be smiling devilishly. "If this world doesn't exist, neither will you."

                       Cinder went pale. "Wh-wh- what?"

                       "If you change the future, those living in it will cease to exist." Dusknoir repeated. "Master Dialga doesn't want to disappear, and neither do I."

                       Cinder turned to me, her face ashen. "D- did you know this, Grovyle?"

                       I was choked up. I couldn't speak. But Cinder must have seen it in my face; I had known all along.

                       "Why didn't you tell me?" Cinder's voice broke.

                       "I- I wanted to! I really did!" I said, truthfully. "I... I just didn't know how you-..." I sighed, "I thought you would... not want to continue... this mission anymore... if you knew the truth, Cinder."

                       Oddly, though, Cinder didn't seem to be listening. She had a faraway look, and appeared to be thinking about something else.

                       "Th- they knew too." Cinder muttered. "That must be why..."

                       I had no idea what Cinder was talking about, but Dusknoir seemed to understand.

                       Dusknoir's huge shadow completely covered Cinder, holding her in darkness. "They knew the truth. So they had to be... eliminated."

                       "No! That can't be right!" Cinder yelled, trembling. "It... it was an accident! I-... I always thought-!"

                       "It was no accident." Dusknoir rose up higher, towering above Cinder. "I know." he whispered, menacingly, but still loud enough to hear, " _I was there._ "

                       Then, Cinder did something I'd never seen her do.

                       She dropped her sword.

                       "N-n-n no!" Cinder was shaking, "It-... it was you! B- but-!"

                       Dusknoir only laughed. Laughed at Cinder.

                       I didn't know what Dusknoir was talking about, but it was obviously upsetting Cinder. She was shaking so much, I could see her hands trembling and her shoulders moving. My friend wasn't making any moves to reach for her dropped sword.

                       I had to do something.

                       I leapt forward, ready to attack Dusknoir. He was off his guard, more concerned with taunting Cinder. It was then that I felt a sudden surge of energy. A green light glowed, and I felt a new power course through me. 

                       The green light grew brighter as I flew closer towards Dusknoir. Some inner instinct told me to start slashing wildly at him, like Cinder did with her sword, or Trennivon with his scythes.

                       I brought my arm back, ready to attack the gray Ghost-Type. Now I was able to see what was really happening with this power.

                       A shining, green blade of light had extended from my arm.

                       Leaf Blade!

                       Finally, and right when I needed it, I learned how to use Leaf Blade! The move I remembered my father using, the one I always saw him practicing, ready to use it in battle.

                       And now, I was going to use it. On the Pokemon that had a part in my parent's deaths.

                       At the last second, Dusknoir glanced upwards, to see me diving closer to him. He dodged, snapping quickly out of the way. I realized just in time and used the momentum from my fall to roll with it, dragging my claws on the ground as I skidded away from my enemy.

                       "You will have to do better than that, Grovyle." Dusknoir was chuckling at my failed attempt. The large, floating Ghost-Type dropped into a fighter's stance. He was getting ready to do something!

                       _Get ready,_ I told myself. I felt the light energy for another Leaf Blade heat up inside me.

                       I wouldn't fail this time.

                       I was ready for Dusknoir's attack this time. His huge, gray mass shifted, about to make a move. But then-

                       Dusknoir grew black and then faded in a blink of an eye. He had dematerialized out of thin air!

                       The coward! He hadn't been planning to attack at all!

                       I stared in shock for a while at the spot where Dusknoir had been just a moment before. No one else moved. No one said a word. The cavern was completely silent.

                       I turned towards Cinder. The girl was still standing in the middle of the clearing. She was staring forward, blankly.

                       "Cinder-" I said, my whisper seeming loud in the quiet. But I couldn't think of anything else to say.

                       Cinder didn't seem to notice that I had spoke. Then, suddenly, she spun around and started running.

                       My friend tore past Celebi and Trennivon, who were still standing at the edge of the lake. Soon, she was out of sight, disappeared around behind the rocks surrounding the water.

                       I looked at Celebi. The Time Traveler looked so concerned, like she was about to cry.

                       "Go after her." Celebi said softly, nodding once towards me. I repeated the gesture  and started running after Cinder.

 

***

                       I found her, sitting in an alcove between two tall rocks. She had her knees pressed up to her chest, her back against the rock wall, right in the corner. Tear stains ran down her face, through the dust that had piled up from our adventures.

                       "I knew you'd be in one of these." I said, trying to be friendly, and not acknowledging anything that had just happened. "Anyone else would go right past, not seeing the space between rocks." I put my claw up against the sandy, gray boulder. "But they're the best places to hide because of that."

                       Cinder didn't look like she had even seen that I was there.

                       "Cinder, I-" I knew I had to come clean and say it, but I was surprised when the girl cut me off.

                       "Why are you here, Grovyle?" Cinder muttered. "What do you want?"

                       I was taken aback for a second, startled at the aggressiveness of her voice. "I- I wanted to apologize."

                       "For what!?" Cinder snapped up her head towards me. Her eyes were narrowed in anger. "For just _forgetting to mention_ that if we somehow end up saving the world that we'll, oh I don't know, _DIE?"_

"I know. I know." I shook my head, not wanting to look at her. Cinder hadn't ever been so angry at me. "And I couldn't be sorrier for that."

                       "You'd better feel that way." Cinder snapped, but she lowered her chin to her knees once again.

                       I thought I'd take a risk and sat down next to her on the sandy ground. She didn't have her sword anyway, having left it in the clearing.

                       "You know, Celebi told me that," I said to her, quietly. "If you share your troubles with someone, that it makes it easier because you're not carrying them alone anymore."

                       Cinder snorted a laugh. "Your girlfriend would say something cheesy like that."

                       For once, I didn't say anything denying anything she had just said.

                       "It does help though." I persisted. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, or you're not ready. But all I'm saying is, that's what you have friends for. It's why we're a team."

                       I moved to get up, but then, Cinder spoke.

                       "I- I've seen Dusknoir before." she said. I settled back down as she continued. "Not as a Dusknoir, though. But he was the same."

                       _A floating skull filled with a single red flame._ I wanted to say, but didn't want to interrupt Cinder.

                       "Grovyle," Cinder pushed herself up against the rock some more. "You told me what happened to you... I remember you telling me, back at the Guild."

                       I remembered as well, of the time when I was a Treecko and Cinder and I had only just met. I had already spilled my guts out to her, telling my horrible tale. I thought that Cinder had forgotten, but it seemed that she hadn't.

                       "But I never told you my story. Or how..." Cinder broke off. "Or how... similar they are."

                       The girl paused for a moment. She took a breath. "But now... I think-... I think you should know. We're a team, like you said. We shouldn't hide anything from each other."

                       Cinder took a deep breath again, and started telling her tale. "When I was little, I lived in a small place, with other, you know, people. There were Pokemon there too, but not very many. And no one talked to them."

                       Cinder started lifting her head up, but still was not looking at me. "I lived out on a flat rock face, like a field, in the west. Kind of northwest of where the Guild was. There wasn't really anything there; a few caves to the east, only the ocean to the west. The few people I lived with were some of the last humans in the land. Everyone else had left, years before when Temporal Tower fell."

                       "I lived with my parents, but they weren't the nurturing type." Cinder explained, still quietly, "They taught me to fend for myself and to not have to rely on anyone else. They were there, as in, present for my childhood," Cinder made small, almost imperceptible gestures with her hands as she spoke, "but they were always distant."

                       "The only thing anyone focused on was survival. There was nothing more than that. But my parents took desperate measures." Cinder's face was grim. "I didn't know, but..." the girl's voice caught, but she tried to continue. "B- bu- bu-..." she stuttered, and finally said, her voice no more than a whisper, "but they were working for... Dialga."

                       I wasn't expecting that. Dialga had _humans_ working for him?

                       "Dialga made them do horrible things." Cinder lowered her eyes again. "They thought I didn't see, but I did." She paused, apparently unable to continue at the moment. Finally, whispering again, she said, "They... they killed people, Grovyle."

                       I was speechless as Cinder went on, "They always covered it up as a 'rogue Pokemon attack', or they blamed it on someone else, which only made it worse for whoever was accused." she had been speaking venomously, but then changed, and as almost an afterthought, Cinder added quietly, "and the ones they accused were almost better off. They wouldn't have to live in this dark world anymore."

                       "But sometimes, I think Pokemon are better off than humans, too." Cinder's tone changed again, "Pokemon become corrupt more easily than us. Its in their instincts to want to defend their territory. But it's not their fault. Both Pokemon and humans are made who they are depending on how they're raised. Pokemon like you, Grovyle, are good."

                       She started explaining more, and I listened intently. "And if you were to let the darkness get to you, if wouldn't be your fault; you were originally made to be good, but the darkness..." she sighed. "The darkness can influence you, too. It influenced my parents, they thought it was the only way to turn to. This future makes you think there's no Hope left. So it makes you angry. You attack those trying to help, 'cause why should they be so full of Hope when there really isn't any there in the first place?"

                       "Dialga let the darkness consume him." Cinder went on, "And it consumed others; Pokemon and humans. Dialga was able to manipulate the corrupted ones, but it's not really their fault. And it's not Dialga's fault either," she said that last part like she was trying to make herself believe it. "It's this cursed darkness."

                       "But despite all that," The girl looked at me for the first time. I saw that her tears had dried, and her face had changed. What she said next, made me realize truly how angry and broken she was, "I'd still kill him. If I get the chance, I'll kill Dialga."

                       Lowering her head again, Cinder explained, "The humans that Dialga had my parents kill were like us. They had been trying to change the future. But Dialga only told my parents that if the humans working against him were out of the way, then they, my parents, would survive. They didn't know the truth."

                       "But then, my parents found out the truth. That Dialga was using them." Cinder's face softened a bit. "They realized that the humans they were killing were going to make the world a better place, even if they disappeared. And my parents took up the same resolve, I know now."

                       My friend's eyes filled with tears again. "But then, Dialga discovered them. I-... I thought it had been an accident. That's what I thought... for all this time. Until now. And... and-... and I was the only one to get out."

                       Cinder turned to face me, looking through me, it seemed. Her gray eyes looked like broken glass. "Dialga killed them." Cinder's voice was barely audible.

                       ' _How similar they are...'_ Cinder's words from earlier echoed in my mind. Our stories were not similar, they were almost the exact same.

                       "Dialga burned the whole place." Cinder went on silently. "I was the only one left; I guess my parents had figured out that Dialga was planning to get rid of them. They had sent me away."

                       "And that coward, Dialga wasn't even there." Cinder spat, "But Dusknoir was. He started the fire. It was before he evolved, but I know it was him. The floating red light..."

                       At that remark, I knew Cinder and I recognized Dusknoir's changed forms the same way.

                       "When I came back, everything was gone. All the houses... the Pokemon... other people... my parents. They were all gone. Burnt away."

                       "And I was left. Alone." Cinder stopped talking again, her breathing heavy, as if she was about to break down in sobs. 

                       "I thought... out there... all alone, that I would lose myself to the darkness, too." Cinder was quiet once again, though her voice still broke occasionally. "And I almost did. I knew I wanted to change the future to.. to somewhere where we could Hope again. But-... but I didn't think it was possible. I- I- I almost did it, Grovyle." Cinder was having trouble getting her words out again, "I almost became... Like Dialga. The... the guilt... of being the last one left. The one who survived. That-... that fueled my anger."

                       And then I remembered. I had almost lost myself to the darkness as well. And for the same reason.

                       But then, something I didn't expect happened. Cinder smiled.

                       "But Grovyle," she said to me, "then I found you. And I still can't thank you enough for what you did for me."

                       "What did I do?" I replied, after a short pause that got rid of my initial shock.

                       "You saved me."

                       I blinked at her. "How-?" I began, but my friend continued.

                       "When I found you... in the Guild, and you told me your story. How you came to be one little Treecko out on his own, trying to save the world. I realized how close our past stories were to each other. And I realized something even more important,"

                       She looked me straight in the eyes, "That you're never alone."

                       I had nothing to say. I had never realized how much I had affected Cinder, so much to even say that I saved her from a worse fate. I had always thought that it had been the other way around.

                       "You gave me Hope, Grovyle." Cinder stated, her voice full of emotion. "Hope that this world could be made better."

                       "And even if we do, in the end, have to disappear," Cinder smiled again, "No one else would have to live in this world of darkness."

                       "And Grovyle... that is all I want."

                        

***

 


	15. Chapter 14

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Fourteen:

                      

                       I led Cinder back to the lakefront not long after that. Celebi and Trennivon were still there, waiting. Neither of them acknowledged the exchange that had just happened with Dusknoir, though I noticed them both eyeing the girl oddly, but then quickly looking away.

                       "Where are we going next?" I asked, to break the silence. "Back to Foggy Forest, right?"

                       "I never got to see the Dimensional Scream 'cause of... you know." Cinder stated, and reached out to Celebi. "You still have the Gone Pebble?"

                       The Time Traveler passed the hexagonal stone to Cinder and we all watched. And waited.

                       As soon as she touched the stone, I saw Cinder screw up her eyes and bare her teeth. The headache she had before every vision was starting. Then, she stood up straight, staring ahead at nothing, her eyes wide open. Finally, as usual, she fell forward like a statue, only waking up moments before hitting the ground.

                       "Well?" Celebi asked, voicing our anticipations.

                       "Yeah, the Time Gear was here." Cinder didn't sound as mystified as she usually did after seeing a vision from the past. She must have noticed this, and clarified. "I mean, yeah, I saw the Time Gear. It was floating out there under the water in the lake. And there were also... voices."

                       I noticed she was trying not to look at me, which was strange. Perhaps it had something to do with our conversation from earlier, though I thought that had been worked out.

                       "I think..." Cinder went on, "There was a fight going on. I couldn't tell who was fighting, or why, but..." she turned towards me, "Grovyle, I think you were there."

                       I didn't know who I would have been fighting with here, but this reminded me of something else. "So it was like what happened in Crystal Cave." I told her, "With the paradox of hearing what you said in the past. Huh, with that and now what you just saw... 'least it means we _do_ get to the past."

                       Cinder didn't look so sure, though. "I think... now don't think too hard about this, but I think.. I think that what I see, these... 'future-of-the-past' things... I think they're just one _possible_ future." she looked towards Celebi for confirmation, and the Time Traveler nodded.

                       "I think what Cinder is trying to say is," Celebi picked up for her, "that if we continue on the path we're taking now, then what Cinder sees is our future based on what we're doing now. But if something were to change with what we do now, then what Cinder sees in the Dimensional Scream will change as well."

                       "Well then, let's make sure we keep doing what we're doing." I confirmed. "And Cinder will keep seeing the good things."

                       "So, off to Foggy Forest?" Trennivon put in. I jumped at his sudden presence, always seeming to pop in suddenly, reminding us all that he was still there.

                       "For the last Time Gear," Cinder said grimly, reaching behind her to take out the map. She rolled out the paper, spreading it on the sandy ground.

                       We couldn't have been further away from our destination. The forest was positioned on the east coast of the map, while we were in the west corner.

                       "It won't take as long to cross the fields like the Dark Wasteland." I pointed out, tracing my claw from the desert drawing across the flat area in the middle of the map.

                       "But we're in more of a rush this time," Celebi reminded me. All four of us were leaning over the map on the ground, and the Time Traveler's head was right next to mine. I noticed that she smelled sweet, like Apples and new leaves.

                       "Grovyle!" Celebi called out, and I snapped out of my reverie.

                       I shook my head, "Wha- what? S- sorry. I zoned out for a sec there. What were you saying?" I hoped she couldn't tell how hot my face was getting.

                       "We have to get to Foggy Forest quickly." Celebi repeated.

                       "What?" I asked, confused. "Why? Why is this any different than the other times?"

                       The three of them were quiet, like I was missing a point that was clearly right there in front of me. And then, I realized.

                       "Dialga." I muttered.

                       Celebi nodded, and Cinder's face turned stony. Trennivon looked more nervous than usual.

                       "Well, how long would it take to get to Foggy Forest, if we go at a fast pace?" I asked Celebi.

                       The pink Pokemon looked back down at the map. "From the Eastern Desert, we could probably make it to Oran Forest if we travel through the, um, 'night'."

                       "Going back over Mt. Horn will be harder." Celebi continued, "But the stretch of mountain range near Apple Woods is the narrowest if we go straight over Mt. Horn's peak."

                       "What about the south coast?" Trennivon asked pointing towards a group of ruins on the coast south of Apple Woods and Oran Forest. He was careful not to rip the paper with his claw. "We could go through those ruins and over a thinner section of mountains and end up right at Foggy Forest."

                       "No," I said, and wouldn't hear any more about it. But Cinder looked at me oddly, so I had to elaborate.

                       "Those ruins are..." I started, "One of Dialga's strongholds." Quieter, I said, "I've been there... before."

                       "We'd be walking straight into a trap," Celebi agreed. "So that's why we have to go over Mt. Horn."

                       She stared at the rest of us, seriously. "Mt. Horn is incredibly harsh, and it's only luck that we've been able to avoid it when previously going through the mountains. But it would take the least amount of time than any other passage, probably a little less than two days without stopping."

                       What she said next made my heart drop. "It'll be harder than anything we've been through yet."

                       On that grim note, no one spoke. Finally, I sighed, "If it's our only option."

                       Celebi nodded darkly. Cinder collected the map and we all stood. We all stared at each other for for a few moments, around where the map had just been.

                       I looked around at the faces of my friends. Celebi's eyes were rimmed red, not seeming to have fully stopped crying from earlier. Cinder was the opposite, completely stoic; it was so unlike Cinder, and I saw how completely her spirit had been broken, just from her countenance. She was smiling with neither her face nor her eyes. Trennivon wouldn't even meet my gaze, and he looked the worst out of all of us. Something in his eyes said it; it was something I saw in all of them. 

                       Hopelessness.

                       I understood. It did feel that way. It was an empty feeling, like nothing would get any better. Like this dark future world could never be changed, no matter what anyone did or thought. How could we even be sure that the changing past would even affect our world? Especially now, with Dialga on our trail, why did we even think that we had any chance of succeeding? If we even got so far as to succeed in the past, would anything change? Or would we come back, expecting a new world, but only to be crushed by the reality that nothing had changed. That nothing would _ever_ change. What if all we were doing was for naught?

                       But I couldn't think that way.

                       I had to believe.

                       I had to believe in Hope.

                       "Even with all the bad in the world," I said, drawing all their attention suddenly. My voice seemed loud in the silence. "There is always Hope." The three of them were staring at me, but I continued. "It's there when everything else seems bleak. It's there when you want to give up and turn back, but you don't." I went on, wanting to believe. Wanting _them_ to believe. "There were so many times we could have turned back. But we didn't. Hope is there when you think there's nothing left to fight for. It leads you through the dark, with the only thing keeping you moving forward is the chance, _just a chance_ , of a light at the end."

                       Celebi, Trennivon, and even Cinder were unable to say anything. I could see the light coming back to their eyes. And it reminded me... "Hope is a light." I went on, the three of them still rapt with my words. "It is a light for this dark world. The only thing separating _us_ from Dialga, from those who _don't_ believe... is that we have a reason to fight for what we believe in. Hope is what we're fighting for. Hope for this future and everyone living in it. The Hope that things will be changed and would be changed for the better."

                       "So we have to keep fighting." I lowered my voice, finally realizing that I had been almost shouting some of the words. "Not for us, but for everyone else. For friends.... for family." I looked at Celebi first, "For the friends we have," then to Cinder, "For the ones we lost," and finally to Trennivon, "And for the ones we will make."

                       They were all staring at me, still not speaking, hardly breathing. I was sure Cinder was going to chime in with a comment on how cheesy my speech was, but she didn't.

                       Instead, she raised her fist. Her eyes were rimmed with tears, but not from sadness. "For the future," she said it softly, but it sounded like a battle cry.

                       Celebi raised her small fist as well, "For Hope!"

                       Trennivon was frozen in place, still staring at me. His eyes were wide, but not with confusion. It was more like... realization? He seemed to have recovered from an inner turmoil, and shakily lifted one of his claws. "For... for friends," He repeated it, louder. "For friends!"

                        I was smiling. A huge, genuine smile. My friends, my amazing, wonderful friends, were rallying behind me. I raised my claw in a fist, "AND FOR THE SUNRISE!"

                       Our cries echoed throughout the cavern.

 

***                 

 

                       Oran Forest came into view on the horizon. It was the western end of the forest system that included both Apple Woods and Oran Forest. In the past, this place was probably a haven for Pokemon of all kinds. But now...

                       Now it was deserted. Just like Apple Woods had been, Oran Forest was almost completely devoid of the fruits it had been named for. So much for calming our rumbling bellies.

                       The small Berries we had found at the bottom of the ravine in the Dark Wasteland were almost depleted. Cinder's clothes hung off her frame, and everyone else looked haggard. If we didn't find any food in the Forest, I doubted what we had could take us over the mountain. There would certainly be no food in that harsh, rocky place.

                       We passed through Oran Forest, all glancing up to the boughs of the trees, trying to see if looking hard enough would make huge, juicy Oran Berries appear. But, of course, nothing happened. We scrounged for what we could and came up with a number of the usual small, dry Berries that seemed to be getting less and less common wherever we went.

                       Some of the Oran Berries we found were the camouflaged 'lookalike' ones that we had encountered near Mt. Bristle. The 'Oren' Berries, as Cinder had called them. None of us were particularly excited about doing it, but we had to eat these as well. Trennivon had explained that these lookalike Berries were usually left where they were, since eating them hurts you. So thus, there were more Oren Berries than actual Orans.

                       And desperate as we were for food, this is what we had to eat. 

                       "Once we get to the past," I told Cinder, as she was disdainfully looking at the too-small Berries held in her palm. "There'll be so much food, we won't know what to do with it all."

                       "It's what's keeping me going," Cinder said, winking, and she tossed the Berries in her mouth.

                       I watched her cringe and choke as she swallowed the Berries. But my friend stayed strong and continued to eat them. I had done the same, moments before when forcing down a few of the camouflaged Berries.

                       Getting water was less of an issue at the moment, to my surprise. Back at the Northern Desert, Celebi had stocked up some water from the underground lake, where it hadn't been frozen because of the Gone Pebble. Luckily, the water she took didn't go back to being frozen once the Time Traveler obtained it. So we had a good amount of water at the moment, but it wouldn't last long in the mountains between all four of us. We only had one waterskin that Cinder kept in her backpack. Celebi seemed convinced that we'd get more to drink at the Time Gear lake in Foggy Forest.

                       Coming to the foot of the mountains, I looked up, following the line of rugged rock all the way to the top. The cones of rock loomed tall, and seemed to march off forever in every direction. I couldn't even see the top of Mt. Horn from where I was standing, but I knew I'd see the spire, curved like a claw, once we got to the top of the mountains currently before us.

                       "Onwards and upwards," Cinder said, with none of her usual enthusiasm. And we all resigned ourselves to climbing the rough mountain face.

                       I would have asked Celebi to simply Teleport us all up he mountain, but I just couldn't ask that of her. It always took a lot of her power to transport the four of us anywhere, and the structure we were going up extended up a long way, too far for the pink Pokemon to psychically move us. It would have took too much out of her.

                       So we had to climb.

                       Cinder's fingers grew raw and bloody from clinging to so many rocks, as did my claws. I could see lighter green skin beneath the darker outside layer that covered most of my body and that was on my claws. The fact grossed me out so I put it out of my mind, despite the redness on the underside of my aching claws. Still, every time I grabbed a rock, specks of blood were left when I next moved away.

                       It got so bad for Cinder and I that we took to wrapping my claws and her hands in extra Scarves that we found. I remembered that my parents had told me that Explorer's Scarves and other items gave certain powers to the wearer, and I thought that the ones that Cinder and I were wearing would do the same, but I found that I was wrong. I felt no different with the fabric wrapped around my claws. Celebi hypothesized that the Scarves' power had drained after their long time in the darkness of our world. So much for that advantage.

                       The excessive climbing didn't seem to affect Trennivon. His large, scythe-like claws dug easily into the rock face like Cinder said something called a 'pickaxe' would. And it also didn't seem to hurt him like the experience did for Cinder and I. And when he got tired, the Bug Type would simply snap out his wings and rapidly buzz them to float slowly upwards. Trennivon explained that he couldn't fly for very long; his wings weren't built for long, swooping flights like a bird Pokemon's. So he worked out a system of flying while still anchored to the mountain with his scythes, moving upwards by using his wings and claws methodically.

                       And Celebi, she did fly, as usual. She seemed to levitate with a combination of both her wings and her Psychic powers. As the rest of us climbed, I sometimes found myself with a shower of sparkles in my eyes as Celebi hovered above me. The Time Traveler being above me just made for one more reason to keep climbing.

                       We reached the top of the first range of mountains around the time when we usually would set up camp for the night. We hadn't slept since before going through Oran Forest, but we had to keep going straight on through. Celebi said that it would take the whole night to climb one side of Mt. Horn, and we'd camp on the peak. We couldn't sleep very long, but by then we would have been awake for a whole day and night. Once we awoke next, it would take most of the next day to get down the other side of Mt. Horn, and then we'd continue on to Foggy Forest and to the last Time Gear.

                       The only thing I thought advantageous about this entire plan was the fact that we were going through the night. Though I liked my sleep, at least the amount of light didn't change no matter what time of day it was. We could keep going through the night and not have to worry about using a light source or getting lost in the dark.

                       I saw Cinder try unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn as we walked down in a ravine, getting closer and closer to Mt. Horn's base. I was tired as well, especially after climbing all day. Our whole team was barely staying on their feet. And we still had a long night of more climbing ahead of us.

                       The rocky valley went steadily up, sloping towards the feet of the tallest mountains. Looking up ahead, I saw our destination.

                       A white peak loomed in the distance. Its dark gray rock base contrasted sharply with the white-covered tip. The spire curved around like a claw, which must have been what gave the mountain it's name, though if I had the choice, I would have called it 'Mt. Claw' instead of Mt. Horn.

                       No matter what name it had, the mountain was huge. We arrived at the base a few hours after reaching the top of the first mountain range. My whole team was running on even less hours of sleep, and climbing mountains wasn't exactly adrenaline-inducing, just tiring.

                       But still, through the night we climbed.

                       Narrow ledges were occasionally present to rest on, but not for long. We all reminded each other to not stay in one place for too long. We had to remember that we were running. Running away from an enemy that had always been on our trail. Dilaga had been after us the whole time, but it was only know that we realized what was really happening.

                       But it still didn't explain why Primal Dialga hadn't sent his henchman and goons sooner than the Northern Desert, if he had indeed known about our whereabouts the whole time. It was not the first time I asked myself this question recently, as I sat on a ridge jutting out from the side of the mountain. My legs dangled over the side, with only the mountain face below, sloping steeply downwards. Cinder was next to me, with Trennivon on the other side.

                       Most of the climbing was done on sheer rock faces on the side of the mountain. It was difficult to ascend up the nearly vertical side, using small cracks in the rock to hold on and push up. If you accidentally leaned back a bit too far well...

                       I didn't want to think about that.

                       A ways up Mt. Horn, the view changed. The gray rock became white, and it radiated cold, but I hadn't seen anything like it before. Oddly enough though, it reminded me of the time in Crystal Cave, when we were fighting those Ice Types.

                       Above me, Celebi confirmed my suspicions.

                       "There's ice, everyone!" she called out, floating in the air higher up. "Be careful!"

                       Cinder, remembering her chilling experience back in Crystal Cave, tried to be extra watchful of where she put her hands to pull up. She stayed as far away from the ice as she could.

                       But what we all didn't know was that ice had a certain effect on mountains. Before Temporal Tower fell, ice on mountains would melt occasionally. The melted ice would seep into cracks in the rock and then refreeze. Frozen ice takes up more space than the water, so thus, the crack isn't big enough to hold the ice, and it breaks. Some of the breaking rock must have been in the process of falling. I noticed this before Cinder, but but by the time I was about to warn her, it was too late.

                       Cinder grabbed onto a loose rock.

                       And the rock broke off.

                       Bringing Cinder down with it.

 

***

 

                       _BA-BUMP._

                       A split second passed as Cinder fell.

                       _BA-BUMP._

                       Another second, and Cinder dropped, rapidly getting closer and closer to the rocks below.

                       _BA-BUMP._

My heartbeat seemed to slow, and I was unable to say anything or even move. I could only watch. I was on the sidelines, watching events unfold, but was incapable of doing anything.

                       _BA-BUMP._

But then, Cinder was stopped, hanging in the air, unmoving. She suddenly glowed, surrounded in a blue light.

                       And she was lifted up, no longer falling.

                       Looking up, I saw Celebi, her hands enveloped in the same light.

                       Celebi's Psychic!

                       The Time Traveler telekinetically moved Cinder upwards, floating her onto a ledge a few feet above me.

                       Trennivon and I pulled ourselves up onto the same ledge to join her, and Celebi floated down from above.

                       For a moment, it was completely silent.

                       Then, Cinder breathed a ridiculously loud sigh of relief. "Whew! Let's not do that again, right, guys?"

                       She nodded at Celebi, "Thanks for that, too. If not for your Psychic,  I'd've been a Cinder pancake!"

                         "It's nothing," Celebi replied, waving her off. The sudden use and strain of the Time Traveler's Psychic powers must have taken a lot out of the little pink Pokemon. We all decided to rest for a while on that ledge before continuing up the ledge again.

                       I looked out over the land below, and could see... well, everything.

                       We were higher up than I'd ever been in my life. Being on the side of a sheer mountain, there was nothing restraining my view of the earth.

                       Smaller mountains stretched far and wide below us. Beyond them, I could see grassy fields, gray without color, as usual. A small forest near the feet of the mountains must have been Apple Woods. It moved westward, becoming oblong-shaped and merging into Oran Forest. I looked northward of the forest, where Mt. Bristle pierced the sky, hardly visible above the horizon line. When I had seen those pointed peaks for the first time, I thought that nothing could be taller than those dark gray spires. But now, on the side of Mt. Horn, I realized how far above those mountains we were.

                       I looked south of Apple Woods, and saw some more mountains, but also something else. An irregular shape.

                       With a start, I realized that those must have been the ruins.

                       Dialga's stronghold.

                       Where my parents... were burned.

                       I was about to look away, but was stopped. Beside me, Trennivon pointed out with one of his scythes. He pointed out at the horizon, towards the stronghold.

                       "Look! Look at that light!" He exclaimed excitedly.

                       I turned back, as Celebi and Cinder turned as well to see what the Bug Type was talking about.

                       In the ruins, a few dots of light were hardly visible.

                       Orange light, flickering slowly.

                       I grit my teeth, and saw the faces of Celebi and Cinder fall. But Trennivon's expression didn't change. He looked excited, finally having found a speck of color among all the gray.

                       The Bug Type frowned. "Wha- what is it you guys?" he pointed out again. "There- there's a light out there! M- maybe some other Pokemon like you guys-, uh, I mean... like us!"

                       "That's not what it is, Trennivon." Celebi mumbled.

                       _How could the Scyther be so... innocent? How could he not know?_ These thoughts ran through my head as I watched Trennivon become more and more confused. _How can one even keep a childlike innocence in this dark and immoral world?_

                       "It's a stake." I snapped bluntly at him. Pointing down the mountain at the flickering light, I growled, "That light down there is someone _burning._ "

                       "Burn-?" Trennivon started to say, looking around at all of us. Cinder cut him off.

                       "Didn't you hear Dusknoir?" my human friend said angrily. "That Dialga _kills_ those who go against him? Well, there. There you go. That's what that _monster_ does. Take a good look. It'll probably be us next."

                       Trennivon's eyes were wide with realization. "I-... I- I knew that... Dialga... He-... took care... of those who opposed him..." he looked back at the tiny firelight in the distance. "But- but... the stakes." 

                       "They were trying to make the world a better place and got burned because of it." Cinder went on in a venomous tone. "That's what Dialga does. We'll probably end up the same way. And even if we do change the future, what'll our reward be? Oh, right! _Death!_ How could I forget?"

                       Since the events at the Underground Lake, Cinder had been growing more bitter. I remembered how optimistic and hopeful about our cause she had been previously. But now... my friend had mentioned failure twice in the same conversation. I knew she still would give up her own life for our cause, but that didn't make our upcoming sacrifice any easier to swallow.

                        "I don't want to disappear-" Trennivon started, but Cinder didn't let him finish.

                       "Neither do any of the rest of us! I doubt we'll even get that far! But if us dying will make this future better for everyone else, then that's what we have to do!" Then, Cinder quieted. "We have to do it. For them," she glanced back to the specks of light in the distance. But I had a feeling that she wasn't talking only about the stakes burning at the moment. "If you don't have the same resolve, then there's no reason for you to be here."

                       Trennivon didn't answer. His eyes shifted around, looking from Cinder, Celebi, and I to the flickering flames and back.

                       I looked back to the west, the orange lights still burning, but also growing smaller, dying slowly.

                       Those flames... they looked so small from so high up. But they were a life, burning away. Someone unknown, who would never _be_ known. Their story would never be told, burning with them.

                       We've come so far on our journey. But what if Cinder was right? If we weren't to succeed, would we burn? Resigned to a fate of an unchanged world?

                       Or would someone else step up, after us? Like I was, inspired by another's end; to take up the torch and try to bring back the light.

                       But because of that inspiration, our stories _would_ carry on. Our spirits are alive, burning like fire. Sometimes they grow small, but the fire never goes out. From the very first who took a stand against this dark world, against Dialga, the spark they started is still alive. The world has changed, and it _will be_ changed. What we do now, succeeding or not, _will_ carry on to the future. To _every_ future.

                       And someday, be it by us or another, the world will be changed. The sun will come back.

                       But for now, we had to continue up the mountain. We couldn't rest until we got to the top. We had to push on.

                      

***

 

                       The top of Mt. Horn was reached, a few hours of arduous climbing later.  The curved claw of the mountain blocked any view of the east, curving around and reaching above us. From what I could see, the cliffside of rock seemed to definitely be sloping downwards once again.

                       Either way, all of us were too tired to care. Hardly bothering to make a camp, we all settled down for a few precious hours of sleep. I slept so soundly, I don't think I would have even noticed if there had been a rockslide.

                       I would have kept sleeping.

                       If not for the smoke.

                       The acrid smell reached my nostrils, and I snapped awake, visions of fire flashing across my mind. I shook the thought away.

                       Cinder sat up suddenly as well, having noticed the smoke. I saw from her eyes that the same visions I had were going through her head.

                       My other two friends were waking up slower, but Cinder and I were already looking for the source.

                       I peeked around the side of the claw, careful not to slip on the ice.

                       And what I saw sent a boiling sensation of rage and fear into the pit of my stomach.

                       Foggy Forest was burning.

                       I had to look away, and turned instead to Cinder, peering around the other side of the curving claw. She had gone pale, unable to take her eyes off the spectacle of slow-moving flames.

                       Something was itching within me, a longing that wouldn't give up its hold. I had to look at the fire.

                       Though the instinctive fear that had developed, becoming stronger and stronger since my childhood traumas was begging me not to do this, a small curiosity won out. I had to see it. I had to know.

                       So I looked.

                       Though my eyes burned at the sight, I still looked.

                       It was brighter than anything. The fire devoured the landscape like a ravenous beast; burning slowly, eating the trees. The flames danced in my eyes, absorbing into my mind. It was beautiful. For a moment, that was the thought I had. The sluggish, bright and burning beast was a thing of beauty. It held tremendous power. Monsters like that, I realized, could destroy anything.

                       Even other monsters.

                       It was then when my fear defeated curiosity once and for all. I remembered the silence. The fire devouring ropes. The final faces of my parents. Burning. Burned into my memory.

                       I couldn't be like that.

                       If I was to use this burning monster to make Dialga suffer in the same way that so many others had... then how was I any better than he was?

                       It might have not been the same in Cinder's mind. But I knew, or at least, I hoped, that she really wasn't thinking like that. It was her anger saying that. That she'd kill Dialga if she could.

                       "We have to get down there," Cinder said, as we both came back together to join the rest of our team.

                       "It must have been Dialga," Celebi muttered, "He must have burned the forest." she looked to the rest of us, worriedly. "What if he's still there? Could we even get the Gone Pebble?"

                       I didn't know, but I was thinking about something else.

                       Why was the Forest burning? What did the Pokemon there do to make Dialga so angry? 

                       With a start, I realized what this meant.

                       The Pokemon... in Foggy Forest...

                       Henna.

                       Panic setting in, I scrambled to the other side of the mountaintop, not waiting around to hear any objections.

                       "Grovyle!" Cinder called out, when I had started descending the opposite cliffside. "Where- where are you going?"

                       "My friend's down there!" I yelled back, trying not to lose my footing.

                       The others asked more questions, yelling down to me from the top of the ledge, but I didn't listen. I had to get down to Foggy Forest as fast as I could.

                       Cinder, Celebi, and Trennivon eventually just resigned and started repelling down the side after me.

                       _She has to be okay._ I thought. _She got out in time. Henna got out in time. She's okay._ I had to focus completely on getting down the mountainside to keep any thoughts that said otherwise out of my head.

                       Despite our best efforts, it still took most of the day to reach the ground.

                       The smoke from the fire had mixed with fog, making it, if it was even possible, harder to see. Through the mist and smoke, I couldn't see the Forest; was it still on fire? Did it burn throughout the day?                       

                       Cinder stepped off the mountain and stood next to me in the fog-filled grassy field that was between the mountains and Forest.

                       Trennivon came next, looking more nervous than usual. He glanced around and behind him, as if looking for someone in the fog. I noticed him gingerly bring a claw up to lightly touch the thin scars on the side of his face.

                       Fluttering down to join the rest of us, Celebi asked, "Grovyle, what was that about? What's going on?"

                       "Yeah," Cinder put in, turning to face me. "We hardly stopped at all that time, going down the mountain. What's the deal?"

                       "There's someone..." I trailed off, not wanting to speak. No, I couldn't say anything. Not yet. I had to see the Forest first. I had to see Henna.

                       "Come on," I said instead. "Stick together."

                       So we walked through the smoky fog, staying no more than a couple inches away from each other the whole time as to not get lost again. I looked up when a large, rounded object appeared through the fog. I recognized it, not for the first time, as the rock that I had climbed up when we were first lost in the fog. With this smoke in the air, I doubted that I could see anything from on top of it now.

                       And finally, we reached the edge of the Forest. It stood out like a shadowy shape through the fog.

                       The smoke was almost too much to bear. With no wind to blow it away, it just stayed stagnant, drifting upwards slowly. The blackness choked my lungs, but I stepped into the burnt woods anyway. Cinder and the others followed.

                       The sight of the carnage up closer almost made me want to cry.

                       Trunks of trees were blackened with soot, the gray bark not even visible beneath it. Branches reached up into the smoky sky, bereft of leaves. Instead, skeletons were left, looking like claws. The ground was burnt, covered in black.

                       As I tried to walk further into the ruined Forest, Cinder stopped me, putting a hand on my shoulder and spinning me around to face her. "Okay, Grovyle. What's going on?" she had a pleading look on her face, clearly concerned. "Tell me what's going on, Grovyle."

                       I sighed. There was no reason not to tell them. I... I just didn't want to be proven wrong; I didn't want my Hope to be in vain. "The first time we came here," I started slowly, "When we got separated, one of the Pokemon living in the Forest helped me out. She had seen Pokemon like us, trying to save the world, come through Foggy Forest looking for Time Gears."

                       Cinder was quiet for a moment, taking in my story. "She has to still be here," she said, finally. She didn't say it, but her expression did: _We can't lose anyone else._ "Come on!" she started deeper into the forest, waving us along behind her, "We have to find her!"

                       As we started back up to continue into the Forest, I couldn't help but catch a look of concern etched on Celebi's face. No, it wasn't that. It was darker. Like... a sense of knowing. Like the Time Traveler knew that this was futile.

                       But I couldn't think like that.

                       I could't remember exactly where Henna's nest was, but when we reached the path where I fought with the Pinsir, I recalled that it was near there that I had parted with the Noctowl. It was almost impossible to recognize, but I found the thickest tree, and was pretty sure that it was the right one.

                       There was only one problem with that, though.

                       The roots reached up into the sky.

                       The chaos of the burning Forest must have caused the tree to fall down. Now, the huge, thick trunk had crashed to the ground.

                       I walked down the length of the trunk, and that's where I found it.

                       Eggshells crackled under my feet. I looked forward and found a haphazard pile of sticks that had been thrown about in the fall.

                       And all of it was burned.

                       "This- this doesn't mean-" I turned to my friends, desperately trying to come up with an explanation. "They got out! Henna and her chicks... they got out! They're okay! They-... they're..."

                       "You're right," Cinder said, coming up closer, and laying a hand on my shoulder again. But I could tell she was just trying to comfort me. Her expression was contradicting her words.

                       Trennivon hadn't said anything, per the usual. He didn't seem to even be paying any attention to the situation the other three of us were in. He was looking around the burnt forest. Realization, the expression I had seen displayed on his face a lot lately, was in his eyes. He glanced around with a sense of sadness.

                       Celebi floated amongst the rubble. She sifted through a couple of burnt sticks.

                       My breath caught in my throat when a dull brown feather drifted out of the pile.

                       A burnt feather.

                       Celbi noticed, and she gently picked up the feather. Some of the blackened fibers crumbled to dust in her grasp. "Grovyle..." she did not go on.

                       My heart felt as if it was crumbling to dust along with it. Looking away from the feather, and to the burnt Forest floor, I said to Cinder, "She was like you, you know."

                       "Is-" Cinder added, but she sounded unsure. I went on, hardly noticing her comment.

                       "Henna was like you, Cinder." I said again. "She didn't let her past get in the way of her future. Through everything..." I whispered, "Her children died, her mate left her... and through all that, Henna was strong."

                       "Henna would want you to be strong, too" Celebi said, coming up to me. "We all have to be strong.

                         I nodded, resigning that she was right. We started away from the downed tree, and I looked back at it at the last moment.

                       There was no way to know if Henna survived the fire or not. All we could do was Hope that she did.

                       So we continued through the skeletal forest.

                       Felled logs and burnt branches blocked our path multiple times. I would start to climb over one, just to fall down, the wood crumbling and turning to ash.

                       But eventually, we came to the clearing that the stone statue was in. The forest was less burnt here, the fire having not spread this far. Some leaves were even left on trees, still unmoving.

                       And the smoky fog still choked out the sky.

                       I went up to the crooked statue and called out, "Cinder, try your Dimensional Scream on this."

                       Cinder agreed, nodding. "Good idea. I didn't get to use it the last time we were here."

                       _Because I thought it wouldn't work,_ I thought, but I didn't feel the need to tell Cinder.

                       Cinder went up and touched the grey statue. The top of it now had a thin covering of black ash that had settled down from the fire.

                       As usual with the Dimensional Scream, Cinder's headache started. She looked to be in immense pain, scrunching up her eyes. My friend then inhaled sharply, and then stared straight ahead. Then, she fell forward, catching herself inches from the burnt ground.

                       "Some voice said... something along the lines of, 'Reignite the life that burned within Groudon... the sky shall blaze with the sun's heat.. the path to the treasure will be revealed."

                       That reminded me of what I had read on the statue's plaque last time we were here. But what I read was a bit different. As a matter of fact, what I read was probably incorrect; the lettering was so worn and weathered, it was hard to read and now, what Cinder just heard was probably what was actually written there in the past.

                       Cinder was on the ground near the foot of the statue. She felt around, seemingly looking for something. Finally, she called out, "That's it! It's here!"

                       "What's here?" Celeb asked, floating up closer.

                       "This!" Cinder popped up, now holding something in her hand. She opened her fingers and showed us.

                       Cinder was holding a stone. It was gray, like everything else, but had a rusty undertone; perhaps the rock had been red in the past. The rock was somewhat rugged and it pointed up like a cone.

                       "My Dimensional Scream referred to something called a Drought Stone." Cinder looked at the rock. "This must be what it meant."

                       I looked at the statue, thinking that this all must be connected somehow.

                       As my eyes passed over the whole of the stone effigy, I noticed something new. There was a shallow hole in the statue's chest.

                       _A hole..._

Cinder had picked up the Drought Stone from right below this spot. Could that mean... that the Stone could have fell off of the statue?

                       "I've figured it out!" I exclaimed, and my three friends all turned to me.

                       "That Drought Stone," I said,, pointing to the rock in Cinder's grasp, "Is the key to solving this!"

                       I went around to the side of the statue that had the inscription on it. "Your first Dimensional Scream, Cinder. You said what this plaque used to say! It was too hard for me to read the first time we came, but now, I know what it means!"

                       "And?" Cinder asked, impatient.

                       "It says to 'reignite the life that burned within Groudon,'. So that," I pointed to the statue, "Must be Groudon. And I think that your Drought Stone is the life."

                       "Ah," Celebi was nodding. "I remember now. I couldn't think of what this legendary Pokemon was the last time we were here. But it makes sense that it was Groudon. I couldn't think of it because it's an incredibly ancient Pokemon. Some legends say it lifted the mountains from the sea!"

                       "But does it have anything to do with drought? Or the sun?" Trennivon asked from behind her. I hadn't realized that he had been listening, or even following the conversation enough to put in a comment that was actually very important to the puzzle.

                       "Yeah it does." Celebi looked thoughtful. "So... place the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart..."

                       "That lifts the fog?" I speculated. "I mean, that must be right! The 'path to the treasure can't be seen through all this!"

                       Cinder thought that there was no sense in not trying, so she stood up next to the statue. She looked at the stone once more before inserting it into the hole in the statue's chest.

                       I thought nothing had happened at first, but looking closely, I saw an extremely weak light begin to glow red. There was a high pitched ringing sound that filled the air, just barely inside my range of hearing, but not shrill enough to be too uncomfortable.

                       When the sound disappeared, I thought that nothing had changed. But, looking around, I saw it.

                       I saw... that I could see!

                       It wasn't completely clear, but it was clearer than before. Now, only the dissipating smoke marred our vision. 

                       I glanced around the whole clearing, and noticed strange pillars coming down here and there. I was about to follow them up to see where they came from when-

                       "You guys might want to look at this." Cinder was staring straight up, her head tilted back.

                       The rest of us did look up, and saw what Cinder was talking about.

                       A rock formation towered above us. It was bowl- shaped, or perhaps a goblet was more sufficient. And the pillars that I had seen...

                       Were frozen waterfalls!

                       "The lake must be up there!" I said. My friends noticed the frozen pillars of water and agreed with my sentiments.

                       "We don't have a lot of time." Trennivon put in. "It'll take a while to get all the way up there for the Time Gear." he turned to Celebi. "Do you think you could Teleport us up there?"

                       Celebi looked up again at the rock formatioin. It looked impossibly tall. Would Celebi have enough strength to move us all up there?

                       "I... I can try." Celebi said finally. "If it doesn't work... we'll have to climb up ourselves."

                       After Mt. Horn, I didn't want to climb anything ever again. I didn't like the fact that this Teleportation would hurt Celebi, but I didn't think any of us could take another rock climbing excursion.

                       We all gathered around the Time Traveler. A light began to surround us and Celebi said, "Time to Travel!"

                       And we disappeared.

 

***


	16. Chapter 15

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Fifteen:

 

                       Amazingly, we made it there in one piece.

                       Celebi's blue light had surrounded all of us, as a ringing sound filled the air; as it had moments before with the Groudon statue. Then, the next thing I knew, we had moved through space.

                       The light faded, and we all observed our new surroundings.

                       The top of the goblet-shaped plateau was, oddly enough, descending into a bowl. The bowl, like the other lakes we had seen, was glassy and still. A blue-green radiance was emanating from below the water in the center. But unlike the other lakes, this one opened up to the black sky above us.

                       "Wow, that's-" Celebi was cut short from her hovering in the air above us. She suddenly faltered; Her eyes drooped and she started falling out of the air.

                       I instinctively lunged forward and caught her in my arms. "Are you alright?" I asked her.

                       The Time Traveler nodded slightly. Part of me didn't want her to get up again, wanted her to stay in my arms. But we had to move on; I knew Celebi was strong. She could get through this. She moved to get up and was soon floating in the air once again. But I noticed that the Time Traveler was staying closer to the ground, occasionally teetering downwards, barely staying aloft at some times.

                       "So..." Cinder said, walking towards the edge of the lake. "Who wants to take a swim?"

                       "I could fly-" Celebi started, but I cut her off.

                       "No, I'll go." Cinder looked at me with an expression that said _"really?"._ I realized that she must have been remembering the Crystal Cave incident.

                       I waved a claw at her, dismissing her idea. "C'Mon, Cinder. There's no ice or crystal sheet or whatever that was on this lake. I'll swim out there real quick and get the Gone Pebble." I gestured to the Time Traveler beside me, "Celebi needs to rest anyway after Teleporting us that far."

                       "I can go-!" Celebi said from the ground. She had dropped down to sit on the dirt floor by my feet.

                       "No," Cinder agreed with me. "Grovyle's right about that at least, Celebi. You need to rest."

                       Celebi pouted, but I think she knew that we were right.

                       "But that still doesn't solve our problem." Cinder went on.

                       "What problem?" another voice said, though it was somewhat muffled, so it sounded more like, " _Wha prof-fem?"_

                       We all turned towards the lake.

                       And standing on the edge of it, was Trennivon.

                       Holding the Gone Pebble.

                       In his mouth.

                       No one was able to say anything at that moment, so the Scyther carefully  transferred the rock to a somewhat-stable grip in between the tips of his two claws. Now unhindered, speaking in his wobbly voice, he started. "Y- you guys were just- just arguing. So I flew out over the lake and got the Gone Pebble for you."

                       "Y- you what?" I managed.

                       "I flew out over the lake." Trennivon repeated, nodding to the water behind him. The green light that had been in the middle was now gone.

                       I had to admit, I was impressed. I tended to not give Trennivon enough credit. Even forgetting he was there at many times. But in the end, Trennivon was becoming someone I could count on. I could trust him. I believed in him; I believed in my whole team. He just needed to do the same for himself.

                       "And it was t- t- taking too long." the Bug-Type muttered. "There's... there's... D- Di-..." he trailed off, muttering quietly to himself, too quiet for me to hear any of it.

                       But I understood.

                       "Dialga." I said the name alone, like before, grimly.

                       "But wasn't... wasn't he supposed to be here?" Cinder put in. She looked confused, but also... scared.

                       But she was also right. Where was Dialga? Or at least Dusknoir? Hadn't Dusknoir said that Dialga knew where we were at all times? So he must know what just happened. That we have the last Time Gear.

                       And that all we had to do now was...

                       "The Passage of Time." I said, realizing.

                       "What? Celebi spoke up from the ground. She sounded a bit stronger now.

                       "That's where Dialga is." I clarified darkly. "He's waiting for us, at the Passage of Time."

                       The other three were all silent. They didn't want me to be right, but they knew I was.

                       "We'd be walking right into an trap." Trennivon said, his voice breaking.

                       I nodded, but then, Celebi spoke up again. She struggled to get up again, and then started floating in the air once again. This time, she stayed up.

                       "But Dialga doesn't know where the Passage is." the Time Traveler said.

                       "Isn't a 'Time-Traveler-linky-thing'?" Cinder asked. "Like, you guys both know where all of the Time Gears are?"

                       "That last part is true of both of us," Celebi started. I looked on, worried that she would falter again and fall to the ground, but she stayed airborne. "But Dialga doesn't use a Passage of Time like I do for long time traveling bouts. And because he doesn't use them, Dialga doesn't know where the Passages are. Or, at least, as far as I know. I mean, I only know where Temporal Tower is because... Well, it's common knowledge to know where it fell. Everyone stays away from it; it's down in the gulf north of Treasure Town."

                       "But that's beside the point." Celebi said, getting back to what she was trying to explain. "The point is that Dialga doesn't use Passages of Time, he used to use Temporal Tower in the same way that I use the Passages. So there's no way he could be waiting for us at the Passage in the ruins. Unless someone told him, which is-" she chuckled lightly, "-Impossible."

                       "Alright..." Cinder trailed off, still sounding a bit unsure. "But that still doesn't explain why Dialga's not here." She turned around, spinning to look at each of us in turn. "I mean, by all rights, shouldn't he be here? Or at the Passage of Time, no matter how impossible it is? It- it's the final stretch! The last chance he has to stop us." She looked at me pointedly, eyes wide, "And don't say that you haven't thought it too, Grovyle. We all know its strange that he hasn't done anything to stop us from getting this far."

                       I was about to reply when Trennivon spoke up, just loud enough to make a point. "Don't you think we should not look a gift Ponyta in the mouth and head on to the Passage of Time while there's no ambush waiting for us there?"

                       "That's what I was going to say," I said, nodding to the Scyther. "Since Dialga's not here, and Celebi says it's impossible for him to be at the Passage, we should go now before either of those things go wrong. And with us, there's not a bad chance that that would happen."

                       Everyone else agreed, but before we started to leave the plateau, Cinder insisted that she check the Gone Pebble with her Dimensional Scream.

                       Trennivon handed her the hexagonal-shaped stone and Cinder held it in her palm. A moment passed before Cinder's ability took affect.

                       As usual, my human friend looked as if she had a terrible headache. Then, she stood straight up, staring ahead and not blinking before finally leaning forward, falling towards the ground. Cinder caught herself before landing on the rocky, gray soil.

                       We all waited for her to tell what she saw.

                       Cinder got up and walked towards the edge of the frozen lake. "The Time Gear's here." she reported. "It was under the water, right out there." she pointed out to the center of the lake. "And... and the lake. It-... it was like.... it was like it was... exploding."

                       "Exploding?" I echoed, a hint of terror in my voice.

                       "Yeah," Cinder turned back to us. The now-crumbled Gone Pebble drifted out of her hand between her fingers as dust. "There was a bunch of colored light and a big plume of water coming out of the middle of the lake. I... I don't really know what was..." she trailed off, apparently still trying to decipher her dream.

                       "I've heard that in the past, there was a geyser beneath Fogbound Lake." Celebi offered. "It would shoot water up from underground and make a fantastic sight of water and color. I believe that you were seeing the geyser going off, Cinder."

                       "I hope you're right." Cinder replied, "But I saw the Time Gear. That's all that matters, right? We know the Time Gear's here, and we can go get it in the past now."

                       "That was the last one." Celebi muttered. "They were all where I thought they were, how 'bout that?"

                       "This was only half the journey, though." I said. "Now all we have to do is-"

                       "Get to the Passage of Time." Trennivon cut me off. "We should-... uh, I mean... yeah, we should... we should go. Before anything else... anything else goes wrong."

                       We all agreed with him and started to head out. I didn't want to ask Celebi to Teleport us again, so we had to climb down through the plateau. A cave on the top of the formation near the lake led down through the rock structure. The cave was dark, but something I had never seen before soon began to glow dimly around us.

                       Frozen rivers of lava cut through the stone floor.

                       The magma was stilled in time, but like the slow-moving fire I had seen all too often, it still glowed slightly, filling the narrow tunnel with ethereal red light.  

                       Now not needing any torches, we continued on our way downwards.

                       After a while of walking steadily down, kind of in a spiral, the exit appeared. My team and I emerged out of the cave tunnel.

                       "It's not far to the Passage now." Celebi said. "We just have to go east for a bit, and the portal will be in the old ruins there."

                       Foggy Forest was less burnt in this area, most of the trees were even still standing. We went with a fast pace, trying to get to the ruins quickly. Soon, I sensed the edge of the woods coming up, and sure enough, I saw what stood before us through the trees.

                       A crumbling stone formation rose up out of the earth. It looked a bit like the one that was near where I lived with my parents. I had gone to those ruins with Father to learn about the human language. Thinking on that, I realized that I hadn't even used the human language since I had met Cinder. Speaking in the Pokemon tongue was, of course, more natural for me, but I had grown so used to Cinder using it as well, I had forgotten that it was not the language she spoke normally.

                       That and other things really proved how much Cinder, how much _all of us,_ actually, had grown in this short time together. I'd completely gone and evolved since Cinder and I met, and I had opened up for both my human friend and Celebi. Cinder had done the same for me, telling me about her past. Celebi stood with us now, willing to give her life for our cause like the rest of us, unlike when we had first met. And Trennivon... Trennivon had grown the most out of all of us. He was still his skittish self, but I think there was more to him behind all that.

                       He was a Pokmeon I could trust to get things done when everyone else was still arguing about what to do. Ever since he joined our team, I had been unsure about what to think about the Scyther. I thought that he was not only suspicious, going off at night, but also would be not helpful to our cause. Though I still haven't quite figured out where he was that night, I've decided to give him the benefit of the doubt to where he was. We all have experienced bad things in this dark world, perhaps that was his way of dealing with it.

                       And he has certainly become helpful for our cause of saving the world. He might still not be of much use in a battle, always cowering in fear, but he was helpful in other ways. Trennivon always had a way of saying something, be it darkly or in his stuttering tone, to get us back on track. For us to remember just how much this world needed saving. His insight on corrupt Pokemon and their ways reminded us always that we needed to save this world, especially for them.  

                       And now, we were so close. We were steps away from traveling back in time. From saving the world.

                       Soon, we would get to see the world of the past. We would see color. We would see Pokemon, uncorrupted.

                       I would see the sun.

                       A surge of excitement coursed through my body, and I found myself grinning uncontrollably.

                       Beside me, Cinder glanced my way. "What're you so happy about?"

                       I laughed slightly, "We're almost there!"

                       "Yeah," Cinder sighed, putting her hands behind her head as we walked. "We are, aren't we? We're about to do it. What we set out to do... save the world." She looked back my way, smiling as well. "We're about to save the world, Grovyle!"

                       "It seems almost surreal at this point." I was saying as I walked under a dilapidated stone arch, entering the crumbling ruins. "I always thought we'd get this far, but it was almost like... I _had_ to think that, you know? It's just something you say, but once it actually happens, it surprises you anyway."

                       "I understand," Celebi replied. Though the stone ceiling had fallen in on itself long ago, and the ruins were opened up to the sky, it was still considerably dark among the crumbling stone. Sparkles flashed around Celebi wherever she moved, as usual.

                       In the lowlight, the specks of light seemed to linger; seemed to float in the air around all four of us. I noticed a few effects of the previous occupants of the ruins were left, probably having been abandoned when time fell. It was mostly things left by humans; the items were more intricately made than the kinds of things that Pokemon made.

                       Dusty wall hangings were strung up on a number of walls, the threads so old and worn, most looked as if they would fall apart when touched. I couldn't even decipher what the threaded tapestries were supposed to be, they were so ancient. Some might have been Pokemon of some importance, but still, I couldn't tell.

                       Celebi's specks of light were still floating in the air, like spores of dust, illuminating the room. I noticed Cinder looking around the room as I was; she was playing with a metal suit of armor that was stationed near the entrance. The armor squeaked as Cinder moved its arm up and down, before with a CLANG! the arm snapped off. The sound echoed and the rest of us shot Cinder annoyed expressions, while she just grinned widely and tried to put the arm back it its place.

                       The palace ruins seemed to lead further in, and that's where I saw Trennivon heading to. He wasn't looking around at the sights like the rest of us, just nervously backing up, going further into the ruins. I had observed earlier that he seemed to be acting more skittish than usual. Like with Cinder's shenanigans, I had grown used to the Scyther's nervousness; it happened so often, it was a normal occurrence. But something seemed different here.            

                       Something in his manner reminded me of a time before, but I couldn't remember just when. But there was another thing that bothered me. It was almost as if Trennivon was... hesitant. He looked as if he was waiting for something, glancing further into the ruins and then back to the rest of us. He was probably just trying to rush us along, like back at Fogbound Lake.

                       "So where's the Passage of Time?" I asked, sidling up to walk beside Celebi. The fluttering of her wings made more sparkles of light, and they floated into the air and hung suspended along with the others, which were now slowly fading.

                       "It's just up ahead." Celebi said, pointing over to near where Trennivon stood, by a doorway.

                       "We've almost done it," I repeated this from earlier, but I felt as if there was really nothing else I could say to describe it.

                       "I know!" Celebi was flying at level with me, and I could see her expression clearly.   She was so excited, so full of Hope. She was practically glowing, filling me up with Hope as well. I couldn't help but smile along with her. It was completely different from when I first met the Time Traveler, when she was reluctant to join our cause of saving the world. But now she was with  me- er, _us._

                       Like so many times before, I didn't hear Celebi talking to me until she had to physically shake me out of my reverie. I felt my face grow hot and hoped that what she _hadn't_ noticed was that I was lost in thought while staring at her. Celeb had grabbed my shoulders and shook me to try and get me to pay attention. I oh-so-very-heroically-slash-dashingly mumbled a 'what?' when I surfaced to find Celebi's face inches from mine.

                       "I asked you if you wanted to continue on, silly!" Celebi giggled. "Lost in thought, Grovyle?"

                       "Uh-huh, yeah." I muttered, tearing myself away from staring, but not wanting her to make fun of the blush that was surely on my face.

                       "Well, come on then!" Celebi grabbed my claw and practically flung me towards the arched entrance, where Cinder and Trennivon were already walking down the adjacent hallway.

                       The hallway merged into a set of stairs, heading up. Our footsteps echoed through the corridor, the sound traveling down the stairs that we were walking up. The sound had an effect almost as if there was someone actually coming up behind us.

                       There _was_ no one following, right? How could there be anyway? Dialga couldn't even fit in the stairwell. Still, I looked over my shoulder a few times while ascending, each time, expecting to come face-to-face with an enemy. But each time, it was only Trennivon who was there, climbing the stairs behind me. 

                       "Hurry it up, you guys!" Cinder called from the lead. "We've gotta get to the Passage of Time quickly!"

                       "Yeah, yeah. We're coming." I called back to Cinder. In front of me, Celebi was already disappearing around the corner. The Passage of Time must have been very close.

                       "W-well-." Trennivon stuttered. He motioned with his claws in a movement that seemed like it was supposed to move me along. "L-l- let's go." Then, he glanced over _his_ shoulder, before we both continued up the stairs to meet Cinder and Celebi.

                       The stairwell opened up into another room, if it could be called that. Like in the first room, the ceiling had fallen in, so the dark gray sky was visible above us. Some crumbled stone was littered around, along with a number of halved pillars. The wall that used to run around the room was now all but withered away, only just barely standing to surround us.

                       And up on a raised dais in the back of the room, was the Passage of Time.   

                       And it was beautiful.

                       It was... color.

                       Not a dulled-out color, like the crystals in Crystal Cave, no. It was full, _glorious_ color.

                       Shaped like an archway, the Passage was crackling around the edges. Brilliant blue sparks of electricity arched off the sides of the portal. The electric blasts scrambled around unlike anything I had ever seen, quicker than anything. The lightning that had been frozen in the Dark Wasteland must have moved like this, not at all static, always changing and moving. But the edges of the arch also flamed, like each and every fire I had seen. Only, it wasn't the same. The flames _danced._ They didn't move sluggishly, as the fire that devoured Foggy Forest had. The electric-blue fire moved quickly back and forth along the arched edge of the portal.

                       And circling around and around, in wonderful movement, was a spiral of white and blue. It was flat, like a wall, standing with no suspension in the center of the archway.

                       "Here it is." Celebi breathed. She looked around at each of us in turn. "The Passage of Time." she looked back to the arch, the blue light touching her body; the light danced across her figure, and her pink skin stood out against the blue, and she looked radiant. 

                       I was so focused on Celebi, that the sudden nagging feeling in the back of my mind, a sharp, instinctive burst of fear, was pushed away before I could register what it meant.

                       I should have listened.

                       A Psychic light, the same blue color as the Passage began to glow around the Time Traveler. There was a quick flash of white light that came from inside the Passage, and when it dissipated, a number of electric-blue arches of light were lined up in front of the portal.

                       Celebi explained that what she just did had opened the Passage of Time. "And now, we can go through to the past."

                       "Here we go," Cinder remarked, completely serious.

                       "Time to travel," I said, a la the Time Traveler.

                       I should have been expecting it, but the concept of going to the past, of finally succeeding in our mission blocked out the intense feeling of fear that was still in the back of my mind.

                       So, of course, though I really shouldn't have been, I was surprised when everything went wrong.

                       The sky suddenly grew dark, the only light coming from the whirring and spinning Passage of Time.

                       I thought I heard Cinder mutter an, "Of course,", but I ignored her and tried to figure out what was going on.

                       "Did you actually think that you would succeed?" the familiar, deep echoing voice reverberated from nowhere.

                       "Dusknoir," I grumbled. "Why am I not surprised." Which was also a lie, but I wasn't about  to let him know that.  

                       The air dropped a few degrees, as the ghost Pokemon materialized out of the shadows, near the stairwell we had just exited. The air was literally filled with tension, and I could feel the waves of it radiating off of Dusknoir.  

                       "I'm guessing you're actually here to fight us this time?" I continued, while my thoughts raced in a completely different direction. _If I can keep him talking, we might be able to get to the Passage before he pulls something._

"If it comes to that, yes." Dusknoir still sounded deathly calm, though I was sure my heartbeat was echoing across the crumbling ruin walls.

                       Another sound, the familiar metal-on-metal ring of Cinder drawing her weapon, did actually cut through the silence. She and Celebi were positioned behind me, staggered back on either side. Trennivon was at the back of the formation, closet to the Passage, completing the diamond-shape. A soft blue glow appeared, as Celebi readied an attack as well.

                       Cinder brandished her sword towards Dusknoir, yelling, "I'm not afraid of you anymore, Ghost! If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get! And I'm not about to lose to the likes of you!"

                       Dusknoir didn't reply, as another sound was echoing up the stairwell behind him. A scratching, pattering sound like many claws hitting the stone. And suddenly, the open-air ruin was drenched in the color purple.

                       Sableye, at least two dozen of them, poured out of the doorway, surrounding Dusknoir on either side.

                       I felt Cinder take an almost imperceptable step back. There were so many of them. And only four of us. We might have been able to take Dusknoir, with every member of my team fighting at their best, but we were hardly in any condition to do more then knock him out at this point, after all we'd been through. But with all these Sableye along with him...

                       We can't win.

                       "Get ready," I muttered under my breath.

                       The Sableye formed a semicircular line with Dusknoir at the crest, but they hadn't moved in behind us. The way to the portal was open.

                       Both sides were waiting for the other to make the first attack. _Dusknoir thinks we'll attack first, and that's when he'll move to defend the Passage. He's planning for us to be consumed by our own hatred for him, and leap into battle, where the Sableye will slaughter us. But what he doesn't know is that we're about to-_

"RUN!" I yelled at the top of my voice.

                       Celebi pivoted in midair, and Cinder, her sword still drawn in her hand, spun around. The portal was across the room, about twenty feet away, on a raised platform above the ground. I started to race towards it, but-

                       "Trennivon, _run._ " The Scyther hadn't moved, hadn't turned with the rest of us. He stood between us and the Passage.

                       _"Trennivon!"_ I was almost growling at him. " _Move_!"

                       "I- I can't." His eyes were shut tightly. I saw something sparkle in the lowlight, and he was... crying?

                       The Bug-Type's whole body shook, and he let out a sob. He sniffed and started to speak again, his voice trembling more then I had ever heard before.

                       "I _can't._ " the last word was so broken, and he looked at me finally, his face rent with tears. "I- I have-... to stop you."

                      

 

***


	17. Chapter 16

Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter Sixteen

 

                       "Wha-what?" was all I could stutter out. But I had heard him correctly. "Trennivon, you're not making sense. Just-"

                       "No, Grovyle!" Trennivon cut me off with a growl. "D-don't you understand? I can't let you through that portal!"

                       Celebi looked from me to Trennivon, concerned. Behind me, I could detect the soft blue glow of her Psychic abilities activating again. Cinder dropped back into a fighting stance as she whirled back around to face our adversaries. She glanced over her shoulder to me and said through clenched teeth, "Grovyle, wrap this up!"

                       I nodded and turned back to the adamant Scyther. "Look," this was getting ridiculous. "I know you don't want to disappear, but there are only two options right now: come with us and save the world, or stay here and get slaughtered by Dusknoir and those Sableye." I looked him straight in the eyes. "It's your choice."

                       Everything was silent until the low voice of Dusknoir reverberated across the open-sky chamber, "No, I don't think it is."

                       I took one more look at Trennivon, making sure he wouldn't move, before turning around to face the Ghost.

                       "His choice, I mean." Dusknoir continued. He was floating at the center of the half-ring of purple Sableye. The many Dark-Types stared, unblinking at my team with their crystal eyes, twitching occasionally, anxious to fight, to kill. It was like we were on the executioner's block, center stage.

                       "What do you mean it's not his choice?"

                       But Dusknoir just laughed, deeply. "I wouldn't think you to be so naive, Grovyle! Have you noticed nothing... out of the ordinary that happened on this little journey of yours?"

                       "You don't know me." I couldn't stop myself from snapping back at him. But somewhere, in the back of my mind, I knew he was right. There were things I had noticed. And there was another thought, a thought that I wanted to believe with all my heart was wrong, but with things the way they were, and with all the pieces coming together, I was terrified that I was right.

                       "Oh, that's where you're wrong." Dusknoir started floating slowly towards me, so slowly, it was almost unnoticed. "I know you all too well, Grovyle. I know all of you." the single red flame of an eye moved to be looking behind me. "Celebi," after lingering on the Time Traveler, the flame moved again, but I did't detect any movement on Celebi's part. She must have guessed the fact previously.

                       "...Cinder." the name of my partner echoed through the chamber. It was said almost... mockingly, going up in pitch before elongating the final syllable. Dusknoir knew that Cinder was afraid of him, on two fronts: as just a fact of biology, with him being a Ghost-Type, but mostly because of their history. And it showed. Cinder's eyes widened and I heard her breathing start to become more rapid. 

                       "But I digress." Dusknoir spoke slowly, savoring every word, every moment he had us trapped here. "Trennivon's choice isn't his to make." he paused, watching us all. "It's mine."

                       And just like that, all the parts of a puzzle I desperately did not want to finish came together. All the suspicions, all the unanswered questions, they were all brought to light. I had tried to force myself to forget, to not notice what was going on; lying to myself until this moment. I had done everything to keep myself from believing all the things my instincts had screamed about Trennivon.

                       Again, I should have listened to them.

                       "But... how?" Celebi spoke from behind me. "And why?" The Time Traveler looked back and forth between Dusknoir in front of us, and Trennivon behind us, still blocking the portal. I hadn't considered wether my friends had noticed the same happenings about the Scyther as I had. Celebi was perceptive and intelligent, and Cinder missed nothing, especially when it came to her friends. So could they have had their own suspicions? Could they be lying to themselves about what they saw, as I did, trying to focus on the bigger matter at hand?

                       "Trennivon was... what, an informant? A spy?" Celebi continued. Like Cinder with her weapon, she hadn't lost her fighting position, the blue Psychic glow from earlier. "Was he relaying information about us to you, or to Dialga? Is that why you said that Dialga knew about what we were doing?"

                       "Precisely, my dear Time Traveler." His reply was derisive, and the way Dusknoir looked at her made me want to go up and punch him in his ugly Ghost face.

                       Celebi wasn't fazed, though. "Then why not do it yourself?"

                       "I could not very well do something such as that, given that both Grovyle and Cinder know and have had... experiences that connect them to me personally."

                       Cinder frowned deeper when the Ghost said that line. My human friend and I didn't need Dusknoir to elaborate; we knew.

                       "So I needed a second-in-command, a henchman's henchman, if you will." Dusknoir went on, speaking in a somewhat grandiose manner, as if what he was saying was supposed to impress us. 

                       He had all the time in the world, literally with the Passage of Time open behind us. He could talk and talk, maybe until even Dialga were to show up to finish the job, and we were powerless to do anything, with all of our exits blocked.

                       Now that he had us trapped, Dusknoir could tell us _exactly how and when and why we messed up_. He was relishing every minute he had to look down on my team; telling his victory story when there was no fight able to be fought by the opposing side.

                       Dusknoir went on, speaking to my whole team at once. "When the Sableye and I ambushed you in the Southern Jungle, that was never meant to be an all-out battle. It was a planting. Trennivon was planted in your midst, and none of you were the wiser."

                       I remembered, _of course I remembered_ , that battle after we got the second Time Gear. Dusknoir, though he had been a Dusclops then, and his Sableye had suddenly attacked, and then just-as-suddenly retreated. And yes, I remembered feeling suspicious of that happenstance. But I couldn't think about it at the time, Cinder had been hurt.

                       "Scyther aren't even native to the Southern Jungle." the Ghost continued, his red flame of an eye bouncing to look behind us, at the Scyther in question, who shrank back at the gaze. "But you all were too distracted to notice that fact. When suddenly, a random Pokemon, versed in medicine and traveling steps out. It must have felt like a gift from Arceus himself. Without his help, Cinder would have died, correct?" Dusknoir seemed to smile, if it could be called that, at the rage that was in full display on Cinder's face.

                       "It was all part of my plan, of course. Trennivon was to be just that, a gift from Arceus right when you needed him most. It would have been too good to be true, too good to be _trusted._ But you needed him. So trust him, you did. And you were none the wiser about what was really going on. You wouldn't question the fact that, sometimes, your Scyther _friend_ would just... disappear at night. Or why you weren't being bothered by wild Pokemon."

                       He paused for a second, to comment on his own story, though none of the three of us had said anything the whole time. "That was all me, of course. Trennivon would occasionally... wander off, away from the sleeping team. To speak with me, to inform me of your whereabouts, your plans. And no wild Pokemon would dare to attack with me following so close behind."

                       "So, on with this little _adventure_ you went. Blissfully unaware that your friend, one you might have even come to trust over the time that you knew him, was an agent of Master Dialga. All with a plan to bring this little band of miscreants to Crystal Cave, to get rid of you once and for all."

                       I remembered that as well. Trennivon had been the one to suggest we all go to Crystal Cave after we had given up in Foggy Forest. And we had listened to him, mostly because it had seemed the most logical course of action at the time; It was like Dusknoir had said, we had already come to trust Trennivon, even after such a short time, and we had all given him the benefit of the doubt about his shortcomings and odd actions.  

                       And Crystal Cave.

                       I remembered seeing Trennivon get up from kneeling when we were standing on the mirror in the crystal-filled room.

                       His scythes had broken the mirror.

                       That had been meant to kill us.

                       "Unfortunately for me, that plan ended in failure. Trennivon was punished for his lack of success, and I had to take matters into my own hands." 

                       I glanced back at Trennivon for a moment. Though they had faded a bit, the clawmarks that had appeared at the Crystal Lake were still visible. He had said that they were from a rogue Pokemon, but now, I realized how similar they were to a Sableye's slashes.

                       I looked back to Dusknoir and he continued. "When we had our meeting in the Northern Desert, what I said then was the truth: I was not planning to attack you. It was not out of any sympathy that I came to warn you, that maybe if you stopped in your quest that Master Dialga would not kill you. No, that would not happen. Every word I said in the Northern Desert was true: I was sent by Master Dialga to relay that you would be killed if you tried to change the future. But, stupidly, you went on."

                       "I had been told earlier by my informant, in the Dark Wasteland, that not only was Foggy Forest the place of the last Time Gear, but also that there was a Passage of Time located there! It was the perfect place for an ambush. It was simply too good. To stop you right as you were about to succeed. But of course, with the end result, could it _really_ be called a success?"

                       Cinder had been looking angrier and angrier the whole time Dusknoir had been talking. She finally burst out, "Sure, that's what _you_ say. But why should we trust anything that comes out of your mouth? You certainly haven't given us any reason to believe you before! Maybe this all a trick! You... hypnotized Trennivon, or something, right from the start!"

                       "Cinder..." I started to say to her, but trailed off. I could tell from her tone that she didn't believe anything she herself was saying. It was another lie that we all tried to tell ourselves.

                       "And you've just been talking this whole time to distract us long enough for the Sableye to jump in an slit our throats? To do the dirty work quickly so you wont have to bloody your own hands, Ghost?"

                       "But, no. You don't have any problem with _that,_ do you?" Cinder was stepping out of the ring that she, Celebi, and I had made. We three were now all facing Dusknoir. And the Ghost was still approaching, too slowly to see.

                       "Are you proud of what you did?" Cinder shouted into the air that stood stagnant, filling the chamber. Dusknoir was still across the room, hovering in front of a bloodthirsty purple audience.

                       "Did you _feel_ anything?" Cinder had her sword drawn, close to her face, defensive. She was speaking through clenched teeth, not taking her eyes off the Pokemon floating several feet in front of her.

                       "Why should I?" Dusknoir finally responded, speaking in his slow, menacing manner. "The lives of those who go against Master Dialga do not mean anything." He pointed towards Cinder, and she lowered her sword closer towards him, just a bit. "Do you really think the work that your people, your parents did was _good?"_  

                        "No." Dusknoir was close now, suddenly and quickly closing in, like a dark flash. Hovering over Cinder, like he had done in the Underground Lake, and she had no time to raise her sword before Dusknoir spoke again. " _Good_ was never part of the equation. In the end, everyone would still die. Nothing your parents did, what Grovyle's parents did, and what you are doing right now will change anything. Those who tried to change things, they would have all died, even if Master Dialga did not get to them. And that is exactly what will happen to you. No matter how this ends, at a stake in flames, or fading out of existence from a world that never was to be, you will _die, Cinder."_

                       He leaned in closer, mirroring the encounter from the desert Lake even more. He was whispering, just loud enough for Celebi and I to hear. "You asked me if I was proud of what I did. To your parents. To Grovyle's parents. To the countless others before you, before them, to the very first of those who tried to change this world to one where we would all be dead. If I was proud of all those I had watched burn to smoldering ashes under the watchful eye of Master Dialga himself, all for the reason that those of us who sided with him would get to keep living."

                       "My answer is... yes. I am proud of what I do for Master Dialga. I say again: anyone who goes against Master Dialga will die. _I will not be one of those._ When I burned your parents, I was doing them a favor."

                       There was no sound, no scream of rage or grunt of frustration. Cinder simply raised her sword high and brought it down on the Ghost.

                       And just like that, the fight was on.

                       Dusknoir banked and weaved, seemingly unconcerned that Cinder was coming at him with her sword. Sableye swarmed Celebi, half a dozen jumping all at once, razor-sharp fangs bared.

                       I heard a sharp SNAP from behind me.

                       Trennivon's wings had popped open, and he knelt slightly in a fighter's stance. The Scyther raised his blades as I turned to face him.

                       "Trennivon, you can still fix this!" I motioned to the Passage of Time, pulsing and alight with blue fire. "Stop the fight, and we can all go to the past together-"

                       I was cut off when something lightning-fast appeared before my eyes for a split second. I was barely able to lean back quickly enough. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the object retreated.

                       It took me a second to realize that the object had been Trennivon's blade.

                       Speechless for a moment, I choked on words, staring at his scythe. "Y-you don't need to do this!"

                       "Shut up, Grovyle!"

                       Too quick to see, he came at me again, and had I dodged a millisecond later, my head would have been on the floor. Getting frustrated, Trennivon sliced again and again, stepping forward each time, punctuating each slash with a grunt. I was hardly able to keep up, barely a match for his lightning-fast strikes. I was being forced backwards, closer to the center of the room.

                       "Trennivon, stop this!" I was pleading with him. I realized I shouldn't have spoken, when, in that split second I was distracted, one of the Scyther's strikes hit home. A thin but bloody cut appeared on my chest, stinging and taking the breath out of me. Knocked to the ground, I glanced up to Trennivon, who now stood above me. A line of red dripped off one of his blades.

                       "Don't make me fight you, _please_!" Desperately, I said this, but Trennivon wouldn't listen. I saw that there was only one thing I could do.

                       Trennivon prepared to bring down his blades, to finish me once and for all, no matter what he may have actually thought about it. But I felt a familiar power coursing through me. I raised my arms...

                       And met his blades with my own.

                       The green glow of Leaf Blade lit the surprised face of Trennivon for a moment, but that moment was soon gone as he threw himself back into the fight, if it was possible, with even more vigor.

                       In the middle of the room that had turned into a battleground, I could see what had become of my friends. Between parries to Trennivon's strikes, I watched them, waiting for a moment where maybe we could coordinate and flee into the Passage of Time.

                       It didn't seem to be coming anytime soon, if the fights happening along with my own were any indication of our current situation.

                       Celebi was high above the ground with a pool of Sableye below her. The purple demons jumped and snapped at her, like a school of Carvanha, forcing her further and further away from the Passage. Out of all of us, she was the longest distance away from the portal, with that distance slowly growing. The Time Traveler must have seen the strategy for what it was: the Sablye were leading her away from Cinder and I, but there was nothing Celebi could do about it with so many enemies to fight all at once. Celebi had an arsenal of large stones, suspended in Psychic light, and she was pelting any Sableye that came close, forcing them back to the ground.

                       Still, others would leap high and latch onto Celebi with their claws and fangs. She would struggle to throw off her attackers, having to resort to a burst of Psychic energy, causing them all to drop off. Celebi would then ready more stones with the Ancient Power, preparing for the next wave. This trick wouldn't last for long, I was sure, and neither could the Time Traveler. The original twenty-plus number of Sableye simply could not be exhausted; each time Celebi took down one, another jumped in to take its place.

                       I blocked a slash from Trennivon, gritting my teeth as I fought to keep his blade away from my throat. I saw the Bug from up close; his eyes almost bloodshot, his breathing heavy from anger and strain. He was getting tired, or just frustrated from not being able to land another good hit. Perhaps if he could make one more sloppy move at the right moment, it would make an opening for us to get away. But I would still have to somehow communicate this to Celebi and Cinder.

                       Cinder herself was still squaring off with Dusknoir. They had migrated to the back of the chamber, nearing the wall. A few small nicks and cuts could be seen on the Ghosts grey hide, showing how Cinder was not holding back, and also that Dusknoir was not completely intangible. A dulled blade could still do damage if swung hard enough, even to a Ghost.

                       Dusknoir, I noticed, had also somehow gained a weapon. It was a long, silver spike. The only place I could guess where this had come from was the move Curse. Curse was horrible, sadistic a move used mostly by Ghosts, where the user would conjure a stake and plunge it into their own body, nearly killing themselves, but cursing the opponent to suffer at the same time. Celebi had told me once, during a training session, about how horrible of a move it was, for both sides of a battle. Before the fall of Temporal Tower, she had said, there had been a movement for the move itself to be banned. The campaign never got far, and certainly didn't hold water in the lawlessness that now pervaded every Pokemon's life since the Tower fell.

                       Dusknoir used his own Curse stake as a melee weapon to combat Cinder's sword. Though made out of some sort of dark energy, the striking sound of metal-on-metal rang out again and again, each time the two weapons met. Cinder was completely dwarfed by the huge, grey Ghost, him having almost two feet on her. Dusknoir used this, towering over the human girl, forcing her to make smaller and less calculated swings with her blade.

                       But Cinder found a way to use this to her advantage. With a CLANG!, she blocked another hit from the silver spike, this time forcing the parry high. Cinder held her sword over her head with two hands, as Dusknoir whaled down on her, trying to force her guard to lower. With the action happening up higher, Cinder suddenly dropped her stance, slid under the floating Dusknoir, and popped up behind him. Dusknoir spun, now having _his_ back against the wall. I could tell he wasn't wanting to let my friend keep this advantage, and before long, their blades were locked again, with the Ghost forcing Cinder back once more, but this time, towards the center of room. 

                       _Cinder's coming closer, perhaps we can-_ My thoughts were cut short, as Trennivon blocked the strike of one of my blades. We were matched in speed, mirroring each other hit for hit. The fight suddenly became a test of agility, who could block the other's hits faster, lest you end up with a gash or worse.

                       I parried another one of the Scyther's attacks, bracing my arms in front of my face, my twin glowing green Leaf Blades of energy nearly whining under the pressure of Trennivon's strike. I struggled to push him back, but instead found myself being overpowered, leaning away as Trennivon stood straighter, using all of his nearly three more feet of height he had over me. It was what I had just seen with Cinder and Dusknoir. Trennivon had probably seen it as well, having taken the idea so quickly. But if he had seen that fight, he had probably also saw the result, and how Cinder had gotten out of it. Her trick wouldn't work twice, and I couldn't roll under Trennivon, as he wasn't a Ghost. Plus, his wings were snapped shut, not ready to fly anywhere...

                       I could use that instead.

                       I crouched, coiling the muscles in my legs before suddenly springing high into the air, over the stunned Scyther. Flipping once in the air, just for good measure, I spun and landed behind Trennnivon. With his back facing me, I realized that this would be my only chance to do something drastic.

                       I raised my Leaf Blade, and in the split second as Trennivon was turning around, I brought it down, slicing his shoulder blades.

                       " _Aaaaaaagghhh!"_ Trennivon cried, gargling out the sound.

                       He fell, face-first onto the ground. It was the first major hit I had scored on him, and besides the original wound on my chest, the other cuts and scratches we had given each other were not as severe. The cut I had just given Trennnivon went straight over the joints of his wings, slicing diagonally into his back as well.

                       I figured that as long as I had him here, unable to move for a while, I'd better try and talk to him. Cinder and Celebi were still waging their battles around me, and I wanted desperately to help them, but if I could get Trennnivon back on our side, perhaps he was all the help we would need.

                       "Did Dusknoir kill your family?" I asked him, still standing above the Bug, looking down on his pained expression. He must have had a pretty good view of my feet.

                       Trennivon didn't reply, except to grind his teeth, trying to endure the pain in his back.

                       "He killed mine," I said to him. "And Cinder's too. That's why we're trying to change the past. So no one would have to die because of him or Dialga anymore."

                       "You'll... Still... Die." Trennivon choked out between clenched teeth.

                       "I know. But everyone who comes after us will get to live in a world that's better than this one. Isn't that better, in the end?"

                       Trennivon didn't reply, and I didn't know if it was because he was thinking, or if he was just in too much pain.

                       "Trennivon, you were our friend." I said to him. "We trusted you. _I_ trusted you. Did your friendship with me and Cinder and Celebi mean nothing?"

                       I was seeing that this was probably no better than taking to myself. There was nothing I could do to change the Scyther's mind. I started to turn around, to go help my friends. "I just think... Even if you have been betraying us this whole time, you would have felt _something_. Some sort of change of heart. After everything we've been through..."

                       "After everything, I think you would've learned to care about someone other than yourself." I looked down at him one last time. Trennivon was glaring at me, wanting to get up, probably to slice my head off, but unable to do so.

                       Cinder and Dusknoir's battle had moved to the center of the room. I couldn't get to Celebi as quickly, as she was on the far end of the chamber, so I went closer to Cinder. 

                       I had to get Dusknoir's attention without distracting Cinder, or she might get hurt. So I did the only thing I could think of.

                       I grabbed a rock off the floor and flung it at Dusknoir's head.

                       The Ghost looked hardly phased, the rock most likely being a slight annoyance rather than an actual attack. But it still worked in its original purpose.

                       " _GAH!"_ Dusknoir yelled angrily, whirling to face in the direction the rock had come from. When he saw me, his red flame-eye narrowed.

                       "Where's the Scyth-" Dusknoir began, noticing that I was no longer fighting Trennivon, but was cut off as he saw the Bug lying on the floor a couple feet away.

                       Dusknoir grunted, sounding more inconvenienced than concerned. He further proved that point by suddenly shouting "Useless!", seemingly aimed at the prone Scyther.

                       Completely abandoning his battle with Cinder, Dusknoir floated over towards Trennivon. "Get up you Arceus-forsaken Bug!" When there came no reply, Dusnoir reached down, gripped Trennivon by the back of the neck and held him in front of his eye. 

                       "I promise you life and power under Master Dialga and _this_ is how you repay me?" Dusknoir roared, "Grovyle should have been easy for you to take care of, _Bug!"_ He emphasized the final word. I watched the scene from behind Dusknoir, realizing that Trennivon _did_ have two typing advantages against me. It was probably why he was singled out for this job.

                       Dusknoir continued to yell at the unresponsive Trennivon, so I turned to Cinder, who had also been watching. She was covered in cuts, her clothes torn here and there. A few were more severe than others but my friend was in no immediate danger.

                       "The Passage of Time," Cinder said to me, getting right to the point. "Let's go, while we have a chance!"

                       "You go, wait for me, and I'll get Celebi!" I started running to the far end of the room, and Cinder turned towards the portal.

                       A few Sebleye lay on the ground, unmoving. As I got closer to the Time Traveler, I saw that she had taken to hovering a number of feet higher in the air than before, too high for the purple Pokemon to reach. She was still pelting them with stones, but there were not many left, and the blue Psychic glow surrounding them was getting dimmer. And the Sableye still numbered over ten.

                       I brought out my Leaf Blade again, slashing two of the purple Pokemon out of the way. A few others backed away, unsure of what to think of this new challenger.

                       Celebi, though, smiled at my arrival. "I had it perfectly under control, my dear," her look of relief betrayed her words, though. In this short reprieve within the onslaught of Sabelye, I grabbed Celebi's hand and we started towards the Passage of Time.

                       We were halfway there when I heard Cinder call my name in fright. I looked at the other side of the chamber and saw that Dusknoir was noticing the lack of battle sounds, and that he was seemingly done with punishing Trennivon.

                       "Hurry!" Cinder added, though we were still halfway across the room.

                         _"Weh-heh-heh!_ The demonic laugh of Sableye filled the air. I glanced over my shoulder as I ran and saw that the purple Pokemon were regrouping, and starting to give chase.

                       Celebi and I reached the entrance of the Passage of Time. Dusknoir was approaching from one direction, with the Sableye coming from the other. Within half a second of each other, both groups had reached our vicinity.

                       "Come on, let's go!" Cinder shouted. We could still make it, Dusknoir and the Sableye didn't have the portal blocked!

                       "Alright, let's-" I was about to agree, when something grabbed my arm.

                       "Leaving so soon?" Dusknoir's tone was back to mocking. He believed he had the upper hand once again. It was his way, I was discovering, to dash our hopes right when we think we were about to succeed.

                       _"Weh-heh-heh!"_ The Sableye arrived, reaching for Celebi, who was closest to their side. The purple demons piled up, and grabbed the Time Traveler out of the air, forcing her roughly to the ground.

                       "Now, let's all go back to Master Dialga," Dusknoir's deep voice somehow seemed caring, in a sarcastic way. "Maybe I'll even let you say goodbye before you're _tied up and burned_." His last words were said with a gravel to them, meant to scare me, and it did.

                       "The only place we're going is the past!" Cinder cried, and she grabbed my other arm. I was now strung out between the Ghost I hated and my best friend.

                       But I knew Cinder wasn't strong enough to keep her grip on my arm. Dusknoir was much bigger than her and would surely be able to drag both of us away. Celebi was trying desperately to stay above the rising tide of Sableye, and was inching further way from the Passage's entrance.

                       _This is it._ I thought, _And we came so close._

I saw Dusknoir prepare to bring Cinder and I in, but then a new sound rang out.

                       "STOOOOOP!"

                       Trennivon leaped right on top of Dusknoir, causing him to lose his grip on my arm. I fell to the ground to see the scene that had unexpectedly turned around for the better right in front of me.

                       Still stunned from the initial attack, Dusknoir was trying to get his bearings. Trennnivon attacked again and again, sometimes only able to be seen for a fraction of a second in one position, before there was a flash of movement, and he'd be somewhere else, hitting from the other side.

                       Dusknoir, having recovered, once again conjured his silver Curse spike, and was using it to parry Trennnivon's twin scythes. I could tell that the Scyther was wavering, as his biological weapons were no match for a steel rod. But still, Trennivon fought on.

                       _Trennivon's betraying... Dusknoir!_ I thought in shock, _He_ does _care about his friends!_

                       I moved to help Celebi with the Sableye still swarming her, but was met with a shout from the Time Traveler. It was something I never expected to hear, and it was like Dusknoir's Curse stake had gone straight through my heart.

                       "Go without me!" Celebi was yelling, rising above the wave of purple, "Get through the portal! Go on! Go!"

                       "But-" My voice caught, "Celebi, what about you?"

                       "I'll be fine! No one can catch me!" Celebi put up a wall of Psychic power, upon which the Sableye furiously beat. Celebi looked back on me, and I saw only the tiniest hint of strain on her face from keeping up the barrier. There were tears on her face as well, but her eyes were strong. And I realized that she had made her decision.

                       "I'll be fine, Grovyle." 

                       Going to the past without Celebi was the last thing I wanted to do. But she had to hold off the Sableye. If she didn't, no one would be getting through the portal, much less her. From the very beginning, we had all been prepared to make sacrifices. This was Celebi's. She would never get to go to the past. She would never get to see color or the change of seasons or the sunrise, but was ensuring that Cinder and I would be able to. And she was securing that for everyone that came after us as well.

                       But I would never see her again.

                       Cinder grabbed my hand, we had to go. We were running out of time. Trennivon couldn't hold off Dusknoir forever; the two were still fighting furiously just outside the portal's entrance.

                       Cinder and I neared the exit edge of the Passage, a wall of swirling blue and white light. "Ready?" my partner asked.

                       I nodded to her, but turned my head back to the portal's entrance. Celebi was still there, holding off the Sableye with her Psychic shield.

                       _What in the world do you say to someone you'll never see again?_

"Celebi..." My voice broke as I spoke. And that was it. That was all I could say, her name. There was nothing else. If I said anything more, it would seal our fate. One small part of me was denying everything: we would see each other again, somehow. The rational part of me knew it wasn't true. But if I said what was truly in my heart then and there, all those things I haven't been able to say, I wouldn't be able to tell that lie to myself any longer.

                       Celebi turned to face me at the sound of her name. I saw her, and knew that this was how I wanted to remember her; she was strong in the face of danger, willing to give up anything for her friends. And she was radiant. Something in her expression said that she, too had things left unspoken. But all she did say was, "See the sun for me, my dear."

                       With that, the Time Traveler sent out the strongest pulse of Psychic energy yet, blowing the swarming Sableye back halfway across the room. In the seconds she had before the mob returned, Celebi readied another barrier.

                       "Let's go, Grovyle." Cinder tugged on my claw, motioning towards the edge of the portal.

                       I was about to follow when a sudden, gurgling _SCHLURRRK_ sound rang out from just outside the Passage entrance.

                       Steps away from freedom, I turned my head once again, and what I saw was horrifying.

                       Dusknoir's silver spike had been plunged straight through Trennivon's head.

                       An awful gasp came from Cinder behind me, and I saw Celebi falter a bit in her hovering.

                       _He had been betraying us this whole time, but still, Trennivon didn't deserve-_ My thoughts were panicked, my breathing having become shallow. _He had_ changed! _Trennivon betrayed_ Dusknoir, _in the end! And it cost him... It cost Trennivon the ultimate price, the one he had never wanted to pay._

                       Trennivon's body hit the ground with an ugly _thud._

                       Dusknoir didn't even glance back at the body on the floor. He started moving, faster and faster towards the entrance to the portal...

                       "GO!" I yelled at Cinder, and she didn't need to be told twice.

                       We both leaped into the Passage of Time.

                       The last thing I saw as the portal closed was Dusknoir approaching, and Celebi disappearing in a flash of light.

                       _She can't be caught. She said it herself. It'll be fine. She'll be fine._

The world of dark and grey winked away, just as Dusknoir was reaching for the portal.

                       And everything exploded into blue.

 

 

***

                       I held onto Cinder's hand for dear life.

                       All the space around us was blue, crackling with energy, incomprehensibly fast moving towards a point of light. We were getting sucked in, like a whirlpool.

                       But then, something went wrong.

                       Lights flashed, strobing like lightning. The portal itself shuddered, like something was beating on it from the outside. Pulses of energy came up and down the path of blue, intense and shocking.

                       "Whoa!" Cinder yelled as a particularly strong shockwave rattled the space surrounding our travel. A high pitched ringing filled the air, the sound so thick, I could feel the waves of vibration that rolled through. "Wh-wh-whoa...!"

                       "Are... Are you okay?" I struggled with the unfamiliar sensations within the Passage, trying to keep my bearings, but it was incredibly difficult.

                       Cinder was unable to reply, the whirring sound getting so loud around us. I felt her grip start to loosen on my claw.

                       "No! Don't let go!" I yelled desperately. "Just a little longer... Come on! Hang on!"

                       If Cinder was saying something, I couldn't hear it. All I knew is that we were being pulled apart.

                       "N-n-no!" I could hardly speak over the rapid vibrations, the sound rattling my speech. "I can't... hold on...!"

                       Cinder's hand was wrenched from mine. The largest vibration yet, a veritable wave of sound appeared out of nowhere. It was dark and black, unlike anything else in the tunnel. It was headed straight for me, and I could do nothing, suspended in space until...

                       Cinder forced herself in front of me, taking the brunt of the dark wave.

                       She was blasted away from me as I fruitlessly tried to reach out and grab her hand. But it was too late. I couldn't catch her.

                       We'd been separated.

                       The light at the end of the portal grew brighter and brighter...

                       "Waaaaaah!"

                       And everything went white.

 

***

                      

                       I woke up in darkness.

                       _No. It's... It's_ dark? _It... It can't be dark! It had to have worked! I can't be... I can't be back!_

But I could see nothing but blackness.

                       "Cinder?!" I screamed out into the darkness. "Cinder! Where are you?"

                       There came no reply.

                       My breath became rapid, my chest heaving up and down, faster and faster. Panic was setting in. I was... I was having a panic attack!

                       "No no no no no no no..." I repeated the word over and over, getting louder until I was gasping for air, tears rolling down my face. I grasped my face in my claws, hunched over on the ground, my whole body shaking. Everything was hitting me all at once.

                       Celebi was gone.

                       Trennivon was dead.

                       Cinder was missing.

                       And it didn't work.

                       The time travel didn't work.

                       I was still in the dark.

                       _I was still in the dark_...

                      

***

 

**END OF PART ONE**


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